My name is Leanora and I’m training for the 2019 World Paraclimbing Championships in France, and I need your help to get there!

Four years ago I was diagnosed with a condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder which causes my joints, ligaments, skin and organs to be fragile and unstable. My spine is unstable, and has started to damage my brain meaning that over time I have developed ataxia, and I am slowly losing my balance and coordination. I’m prone to joint dislocations and injuries and live with chronic pain, and I took up climbing as a way to get fitter and stronger again after being unwell for so long.

In 2018 I had the opportunity to compete at the national Paraclimbing championships. It took place over four rounds across the UK, and I took 2nd place overall in my category in the UK despite breaking my wrist two weeks before the finals. I decided then to go for selection for the GB paraclimbing team, and I trained every day through the winter, even climbing with one arm and a plaster cast on the other, because I was determined that nothing would hold me back from my goal.

Thankfully it paid off and in March I was selected to join the GB Paraclimbing team, to join an incredibly talented group of athletes and hoping to compete on the world stage this summer.

I’m so excited to have the opportunity to represent my country in the sport that gave me my life back, however we are self-funded, and although I work full time, I am training intensively and so need regular specialist physiotherapy and other treatment for injuries and pain, as well as regular coaching sessions. If I reach my fundraising goal it will help me pay for the travel and accommodation for competitions all over the UK and abroad, and make the absolute most of my hard work as a member of the GB team.