Who’s Ellie Challis? Meet the Paralympics swimmer who’s coronary heart stopped for 2 minutes aged 16 months

WHEN it involves inspirational individuals, Ellie Challis is on the prime of the record.

The Crew GB Paralympic star is now hoping to emulate the success she had at Tokyo 2021 when she takes on Paris 2024.

4

4

Who’s Ellie Challis?

Born on March 23, 2004, Ellie Challis is a British Paralympic swimmer who hails from Essex.

At simply 16 months previous she had each legs and each arms amputated.

Ellie has by no means seen her incapacity as a barrier and at major faculty performed soccer towards her able-bodied pals.

Then, at 14, she turned the primary British quadruple amputee to grasp snowboarding. 

In 2015, an opportunity assembly at their native Pizza Hut put Ellie in contact with a disabled swimming membership. 

Two years later she began competing, and two years after that she joined the GB regional squad.

In April 2019, at a global para-swimming meet in Glasgow, Ellie broke the British and European report for butterfly and the world report for breaststroke. 

Months later she gained a bronze medal on the world para-swimming championships in London.

Ellie then went on to win silver within the ladies’s 50 metre backstroke occasion on the 2020 Summer season Paralympics.

She beforehand advised BBC Sport: “I’ve obtained older brothers and sisters so I’ve grown up as the identical as them and I’ve discovered to do every part on my own. 

“Sport, for me, was the way in which to be concerned with individuals. Everybody assumes you’ll be able to’t do so much till they really meet you.”

What sport will Ellie Challis compete in on the 2024 Paralympics?

Ellie is a part of the Crew GB squad on the Paralympic Video games.

The swimmer will compete within the Girls’s 50m backstroke and the Girls’s 100m freestyle at Paris 2024.

She really died for 2 minutes. Her coronary heart stopped. We had been within the room when she was flat-lining. It was that shut.

Paul Challis, Ellie’s dad

Ellie beforehand mentioned: “My dad thought I’d by no means stroll once more. Now I’m representing my nation on the Paralympics. 

“I’m going to go on the market and do my finest and luxuriate in each minute of it. I can’t wait to get began.”

4

What occurred to Ellie Challis?

Ellie, who has a twin sister Sophie, contracted meningitis aged 16 months, and was given only a 5 per cent probability of survival. 

Talking about that dreadful time, her dad Paul advised The Solar: “It’s the phrase any mother or father dreads, meningitis 

“She really died for 2 minutes. Her coronary heart stopped. We had been within the room when she was flat-lining. It was that shut.

 “She was in a coma for 5 weeks and the one factor you’ll be able to hope for is that she survives. 

4

“Her fingertips and toes began to show black, then you can see it rising up and up.”

Ellie was transferred from St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, West London to Broomfields Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, in September 2005. 

4 days later she had each legs amputated above the knee and each arms eliminated under the elbow as a consequence of septicaemia.

She then spent an extra 17 days in hospital earlier than returning residence.

Paul, who gave up his job to be Ellie’s full-time carer, mentioned: “For the primary three months we had been again in hospital virtually each different day.

“It was virtually fixed appointments, check-ups and physiotherapy.”

Defying all odds, Ellie discovered to stroll at simply 9 months, lengthy earlier than her twin sister. 

She obtained her first set of £20,000 prosthetic legs when she was three, funded by pals and neighbours in Rainham, Essex,.