Stephanie’s success earns her special award
COMPETING in sport can be tough at the best of times, but doing so when you’re in constant pain every day is an ever bigger challenge.
It’s something 22-yearold Stephanie Allen has got used to, having been born with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and scoliosis of the spine, which left her using a wheelchair until she was eight.
“The doctors told my mum to wrap me up in cotton wool,” Stephanie, originally from Bridgend, says. “Instead of letting me just sit on the sofa she decided to try and see if I could get my muscles moving.
“Judo runs in the family – my mum did it and my brother and sister both do too. Regardless of whether I did sport or not I was going to be in agony, so we decided to do it anyway.”
Stephanie did dance, judo and gymnastics to work on her flexibility and build muscle strength. She started to walk but says she didn’t really think about it as a child.
“At a young age I didn’t pay much attention. I just wanted to be a normal little girl and not be any different, so I tried to do what everyone else was doing.”
Stephanie improved to the point where she ended up carrying the Olympic torch through Bridgend when it arrived in the 2012 Olympic Games.
“From being in a wheelchair not being able to walk to running with the Olympic torch in my home city was a massive achievement,” she says.
As a result of her work as a volunteer judo coach and as child protection officer for Adaptive Judo in Wales, she honoured with a Diana Award.
The honour – in memory ofPrincessDiana– annually recognises some of the most inspirational young people from around the world.
Admitting she was “very surprised” to win, Stephanie, who now lives in Merthyr Tydfil, says it’s nice to follow her 15-yearold sister Deryn, who won last year.