User:Fredrick2000/Anne Wafula Strike

Anne Wafula Strike was born on 08th May 1969 in Kenya. She is a High School teacher, a mother, a Paralympics Athlete and a motivational speaker. Her biography "In My Dreams I Dance" launced on BBC makes an inspiring reading of a person who despite being disabled by polio has fought to become the first East African to compete in the 2004 Paralympics and was awarded a special gold medal to recognize her achievement.

She came to the UK in the year 2000 and married her fiancée who she had met working as a VSO in Kenya. Their son, Tim, was born in 2001, and in an effort to reduce her gained weight she began training in her wheelchair at the local running club. Her potential was spotted by a coach, Terry Martin, and it was he who helped Anne to get her first racing chair.

Anne contacted polio as a baby after being given an out-of-date immunisation. This adversely affected the development of her legs and led to the use of clutches and eventually a wheelchair.

Anne won five gold medals at the Disability Sport England Eastern championships in 2003 and became the first-ever wheelchair-racer from East Africa to compete in the 2004 Athens Paralympics (where she was awarded a special gold medal for her achievement); in 2004 she was also voted Kenyan Sports Personality of the Year.

Anne only got involved in sport at the age of 31, after the birth of her son, but wishes there had been more help for both her and other disability athletes when she started.

She is a goodwill ambassador for international development charity Action on Disability and Development (ADD). She has also been involved in community projects in Essex especially the Harlow Disability Empowerment Association.