Getting to the very top in sport takes years of dedication, commitment and sacrifice. Our next winner had done all that hard work when a serious health setback meant she had to start all over again.
This year’s Disability Sport Award winner is the inspirational Tully Kearney.
Tully was born with mild cerebral palsy which developed into dystonia, a progressive condition which causes uncontrolled and sometimes painful muscle spasms, in her early teens. She
excelled at swimming, winning national medals throughout her teens, and was picked out as a future Paralympic star.
In 2015, she became a four time world champion and was shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award. But in 2016, just a week before she was due to fly out to Rio for the Paralympics, Tully’s condition deteriorated suddenly and she had no option but to pull out.
Unable to swim competitively she lost her funding, and faced forced retirement from sport. She said: “I really struggled with my mental health. I felt like a failure and I didn’t know what to do with myself because I was no longer an athlete.”
After encouragement from her mum, Tully got back in the water, and began the long climb back towards her goal. She said: “I basically had to learn to swim again and discover what my body could still do or not do in the water.” She was reclassified in 2017, and made a triumphant return to elite racing in 2018, winning gold and bronze at the European Championships. Despite shoulder surgery last year and numerous hospital stays, in September 2019, Tully won three golds at the Para-Swimming World Championships.