Get Lily to the Special Olympics in Berlin!

Welcome to Lily’s Fundraising Page. Here you will find details on Lily’s life, achievements so far, and ambitions for her next steps. Thank you in advance for any form of support you are able to give, whether it is a donation or sharing on this page!

Lily’s Early Life

Lily was born on the 29th August 2000 and soon after an easy birth, Lily became seriously ill in a matter of days. After being rushed to the hospital, Tallulah (Lily’s mum) was told that Lily was critically ill and had a 50:50 chance of surviving. Lily was rushed to Great Ormand Street Hospital where doctors worked day and night to save her life: Lily was on a life support machine and was diagnosed with meningitis and septicaemia. Tallulah was told that if Lily survived, she should expect severe brain damage and cerebral palsy. Tallulah was told to prepare for the worst.

After continuing tests, a specialist consultant of metabolic medicine diagnosed Lily with a rare genetic disorder called Galactosaemia. Galactosaemia is an inherited disease in which the transformation of galactose to glucose is blocked allowing galactose to increase to toxic levels in the body. This is a one-in-45,000 condition and if left untreated, high levels of galactose cause vomiting, lethargy, low blood sugar, jaundice, liver enlargement, brain damage, and death.

All of this has left Lily with cognitive impairments, including learning disabilities, an IQ of 42, short-term memory loss, poor coordination and a tremor. Despite this unfair start to life, Lily is incredibly optimistic, energetic, and happy, always ready to try new things and take on a challenge.

Tallulah will never forget Lily’s lovely Australian nurse, who said “for a little person who has been through so much and has been so very sick she clings onto life, she has a very strong will and you have a real fighter there”.

Tennis

Lily first picked up tennis at the age of 5. Since discovering her talent, she has flourished and accomplished many achievements on the way. She began taking it seriously at the age of 12, mainly because her life became so small and friends around her, who didn’t have Learning Diffficulties, outgrew Lily and she found it hard to make friends, so tennis gave her opportunities a young girl like her deserves to have. Having Learning Difficulties and short-term memory loss, the repetition of tennis has been life-changing for Lily, building not only her confidence and self-esteem but her coordination and physical health.

The training gradually became more serious, Lily has played tennis now for 17 years and her performance and skill rapidly developed leading her to many places. As Lily’s skill and performance have improved so dramatically she now plays in both LD (learning Disability) and mainstream tennis tournaments which is challenging but proves to show that anything is achievable when you are driven and determined. Without tennis, Lily’s life would be small and isolating as she cannot travel independently. Lily relies on lots of support to do the normal day to day things that many people take for granted.

As of 2023, Lily has won countless Gold and Silver medals at regional and national LD tournaments for the LTA (see links below to read more). Lily continues to compete in the Development Squad for the LTA which is an honor, not to mention Lily is the only female team player. Alongside this, Lily is proudly an Ambassador for Virtus Sport, the International Sports Federation for the top elite athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Special Olympics

In 2017 Lily was selected to represent Team GB in the Special Olympic Summer Games in Sheffield, winning Silver for both Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles. In 2019 Lily was chosen to represent Team GB in the Special Olympic World Games held in Abu Dhabi where she won Double Gold in Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles.

With the support of family, friends, and the kindness of strangers, £6,000 was fundraised to get Lily to Abu Dhabi. The money raised went directly to the vital 1-1 coaching, specialist training, equipment, and all the travel necessary to make Lily’s dreams come true.

This summer, Lily has been selected again due to her talent and hard work, to represent team GB in Berlin. On the 12th of June Lily will travel to Germany to begin her preparation for the world games, commencing on the 17th until the 25th June. It is not very often that someone with LD gets the honour of representing their country whilst fulfilling their dreams. Lily will be playing in Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles, looking at a strong chance of returning again with gold, if given the support from you.

Lily’s Support

The support needed to get Lily’s performance to an incredibly high standard requires patience and intricate planning with her kind and determined specialist coach, Mukember. Mukember, Lily’s performance coach, admires Lily as he recognises how incredibly hard it is for her to learn and compete with non-LD athletes in her training, but he admires her determination. Lily has learnt a great deal from Mukember, and he continues to learn so much from Lily too. Mukember’s dedication to Lily’s development is unbelievable, and he has made a huge impact on shaping Lily into the athlete she is today. Lily says “Mukember has changed my game style to a much more performance level”.

Behind Lily’s success, is Tallulah, Lily’s Mum and full-time carer. Tallulah is Lily’s driving force, ensuring Lily is able to get around the UK (and now globally) for training and competitions. Tallulah says “tennis has given Lily opportunities she never thought she would have. She lives and breathes tennis. Any donations big or small would be greatly appreciated and mean the world!”

Any donations or sharing of this page will give Lily the best chance of getting to Berlin. Thank you very much for taking the time to read Lily’s story.

Lots of love, Team Lily.

Xx

Links: In the video of the Rallying Cry, you will see Team GB athletes promoting the Special Olympics back in 2019, letting you know that sport is about inclusion and that everyone can take part. See if you can spot Lily!

To read more: https://www.lta.org.uk/news/six-stars-take-home-the-gold-at-this-years-learning-disability-tennis-national-finals/

Instagram: LilyMillsTennis