Get Lily to the Special Olympics 19
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Lily was born on the 29th August 2000 and after an easy birth I remember thinking with joy that Lily is a millennium baby.
The delivery team reassured me she was perfectly healthy and sent us home. Over the course of the next two days Lily became seriously ill and had to be rushed to hospital. The doctor told me she was critically ill and her blood sugar level was so low there was a 50:50 chance she would survive. A team from the hospital arrived to take her, as they were more equipped to deal with her complications. By this time Lily had started to have fits, they decided to transfer her to Great Ormond Street Hospital. She went straight onto a life support machine in the ‘Neo-natal department’. She was diagnosed with e-coli meningitis type 2 and septicaemia. I was told to expect severe brain damage and cerebral palsy.
All through this terrible time I was expressing my milk in the hope that my baby would survive to drink it. After continuing tests, a consultant of metabolic medicine explained that lily had 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. If Galactosaemia is untreated, high levels of galactose cause vomiting, lethargy, low blood sugar, jaundice, liver enlargement, brain damage and death. I will never forget the kind nurse from Australia who was allocated to look after Lily and told me ‘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:
Before Lily first picked up a tennis racket, she spent most of her time watching her older brother play tennis and you could immediately see her interest in the sport. Lily started playing tennis at the age of 5. Since then she has flourished in her new-found talent and has 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 Difficulties, 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 very good for Lily, building her confidence and self-esteem.
The training gradually became more and more serious, training everyday apart from Wednesday, this is where it became a dream. Her performance and skill rapidly developed leading her to many places in the UK; Wales, Leeds, Swindon, Nottingham where she has won gold ever since in the first division.
As Lily’s skill and performance has improved so dramatically she now plays in both LD and able tennis tournaments which is challenging for Lily but proves to show that anything is achievable when you’re that driven by something.
Without tennis, Lily’s life would be so small as she cannot travel independently. She also needs lots of support to do the normal day to day things.
Lily has won over 25 Gold and Silver medals at regional and national LD tournaments for the tennis foundation all over the country. The last 4 years, she has won Gold for the Lady’s LD National Tennis tournaments. Lily competed in the Special Olympic Summer Games for 2017 where she won a silver medal for both the Ladies singles and mixed doubles. The Special Olympic Games are for individuals with intellectual Disabilities. Lily has an IQ of 42 and the average for her age is around 90-110. This year alone, Lily has been selected to play for the INAS Development squad for the tennis foundation, being the only female on the team and she has also been picked to represent Great Britain in the Special Olympic World Games in Abu Dhabi 2019.
Tennis has given Lily opportunities she never thought she would have. She lives and breathes tennis.
Support:
In order for Lily to pursue her dream of going to the Special Olympic World Games in Abu Dhabi next year we need to raise our goal of £6,000 which will help towards the 1-1 coaching, training, equipment and all the travel it entails.
Any donations big or small would be greatly appreciated and mean the world to Lily!
It is equally important to share her story and this page, as it will give Lily the best chance of getting her to the world Olympic Games.
Thank you very much for taking your time to read Lily’s story.
Lots of love, Tallulah (Lily’s Mum)
xx
Organizer and beneficiary
Hannah Mills
Organizer
Tallulah Bayley
Beneficiary
