Derry woman 'eternally grateful' for support to get new basketball wheelchair

Ciara was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) when she was just finishing university, after struggling for years with debilitating headaches, leg pain and mental health issues. After multiple trips to the doctor over several years, it was only by chance that she was able to get a diagnosis.

Ciara said: “I was really struggling in my final year of university with severe behavioural issues and things going wrong with my legs. I had these blinding headaches that I could not get rid of and I was so sensitive to light. I had a blind spot, too, but every eye test I had came back fine. I was so erratic in my behaviour that I didn't even go back and get it sorted, I was a completely different person.

"Originally, I got diagnosed with mental health problems and then one day I was in the doctor's surgery about my headaches with my mum and I just thought that I should get my leg checked too, because it wasn’t improving in any way. The best way I could describe it is if you sit on your legs for too long and then you go to try stand, that was the way my leg was all the time. So, I said to the doctor that I couldn’t really feel my leg and she just stopped and told me I was going to the hospital straight away. I was graduating the next day so, thankfully, she let me do that and I went to hospital on Monday morning for an MRI and other tests.”

Ciara was diagnosed with MS and was able to manage her symptoms for two years with medication, healthy eating and staying active. One day, while at the cinema with her brother, she relapsed and lost the ability to use her legs. Ciara spent time in hospital to manage her symptoms and get new medication before being sent home to recover.

“As the weeks and months went on, they started to realise that I wasn’t going to recover from this relapse. Permanent damage was caused but I have also improved massively since then. When I first went home, my mum and dad had to lift me in and out of bed and I had carers come in four times a day. They were reablement carers, who teach you how to do everything yourself so you can live independently.”

“I had a really bad tremor in my arm and I was really weak but I have most of the power back in my arm now and I have good days and bad days. My MS is relapsing remitting, so I take a dip, then I can be stable for a long time and then I take a dip again.”

Ciara has been in her wheelchair for four years now and, although she says it wasn’t the life she imagined for herself, her wheelchair is her ‘freedom’ and she is able to live independently and do what she loves.

"I love water sports and kayaking, I love horse riding and I'm a scout leader,” she said. “That's all part of my identity and it always has been. I have a great group of people around me that were willing to allow me to experiment and figure it out. If we can't do it, we'll re-evaluate and figure it out again and yes, you fall out of the wheelchair sometimes, you make a fool of yourself trying to work things out but you get there in the end.

"I've noticed over the years that people will always ask if I need a hand and I will always say ‘I’m grand’, but I'm not saying that to be stubborn and be thick about it, I'm saying that because I need to learn to do things for myself.

"I live by myself now, completely independently and, thankfully, my house is adapted. I drive and I can lift the chair in and out of the car. I don't need anybody to do anything for me, even if sometimes I will ring my mammy for help when I have 15 bags of shopping! But I have been surrounded by people who are willing to let me try and figure it out and if it goes wrong, we'll have a giggle say it's alright, we'll do it again.”

Ciara got a taste of wheelchair basketball when she was in Musgrave in Belfast and has since joined the North West Wolves Basketball Club in Derry, where she has flourished with a team of incredibly supportive players who have not only helped her develop her basketball skills, but have helped her with choosing a new chair and building her confidence in day-to-day life.

“Being surrounded by that community has made me a million percent more independent,” she said. “I would never have got to the stage where I'm at without them. The wheelchair basketball community, especially in Derry, is all very, very close. The atmosphere is lovely, from the really young ones coming up to the ones who have been doing this for 30 years. It's wealth, experience, laughs, giggles, it's family, it's everything."

Ciara is currently playing basketball in a second-hand chair, which doesn’t fit her correctly and is causing her injuries. Sports chairs are made-to-measure for each individual and can cost anywhere from £6,000. Ciara has been saving for a new wheelchair and has half the amount saved already but has reached a point where she needs it as soon as possible. She set up a GoFundMe on July 2 and has raised over £3,000 so far. Ciara is ‘so grateful’ for the support to help her reach her goal.

“Without basketball and training, I would probably be in a darker place right now. I wouldn’t as independent or as fit and able to do day to day life. With me having MS, fatigue is a big thing so you don't want to be getting extra trauma on your body because it takes twice as long to come around from it. At the minute, my hands have got multiple injuries and the chair as caused breaks and major tissue damage. Over the past year, I've had three major hand injuries that have put me out of training and when I’m out of training my head blows and I eat bad and I don't sleep so my MS plays up. It's an unending spiral.”

Ciara will keep the fundraiser live for a few more days and hopes to get her new chair in the next three weeks. To donate to her fundraiser, visit https://gofund.me/77da0a17.

Ciara concluded: "Thanks to everybody who donated because I wouldn't have the opportunities that I have without basketball. I've been very lucky and it's been incredibly humbling.”