So brave...amputee girl bounces back as trampoline champ
A QUADRUPLE amputee given a less than one per cent chance of survival has become a trampoline champion.
Isabelle Weall suffered a heart attack and organ failure after contracting meningitis at the age of seven and losing the lower part of her arms and legs as a result.
But her resilient spirit has resulted in an incredible list of achievements – the latest of which is winning a national trampolining championship for the second time.
Isabelle, now 14, said: “At one point I had a less than one per cent chance of survival.
“But over the years, I have found a way to do everything I used to do before, if not more.”
The teenager, who trains twice a week, won her first national trampolining award in 2016 and recently picked up her second in Belfast.
She said: “There was so many other people in the category with me so when they shouted out my name as being in first place, I was so shocked.
“I like proving to people that I can do stuff they wouldn’t think I could.”
Isabelle, from Derby, uses leg blades and has taught herself how to do everything from typing to writing and even doing her make-up.
She has become so good with make-up, she often posts tutorials on her YouTube channel, where she has amassed a considerable following. Isabelle’s mother Cathy said: “Sometimes I have to remind myself she is only 14.
“She’s had some amazing experiences, and however dark days have been in the past, a lot of these things we would never have had the opportunity to do if she hadn’t got ill.
“If Isabelle wants to do something, she will do it. Whatever it takes.
“She practises and practises until there is no obstacle for her. Life’s for living, so I think it’s brilliant.”
In the wake of her trampolining success, Isabelle has been contacted by Team BRIT – a group of drivers looking to make history by becoming the first all-disabled team to race at Le Mans. They are developing a system that will allow Isabelle to drive a specially-adapted car and pursue a career in motor racing.
She said: “I am super-excited to start race driving.
“I have never driven before but I will be the first quadruple amputee racing for Team BRIT,” she added.
Isabelle said she gets the occasional “negative comment” about her missing limbs, but she has learned how to “brush it off and see past it”.
She said: “I was self-conscious for a bit but I got to a point where I didn’t really care what anyone else had to say because I was proud of myself and everything I had done.
“That was the point where I realised I was really happy and confident in myself.”