Stroud hammer throw champ to represent Britain (From Stroud News and Journal)

Stroud hammer throw champ to represent Britain

2:00pm Thursday 2nd July 2009

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HAMMER throw champ Beth Sewell has been chosen to represent Great Britain at a national competition for deaf athletes later this year.

Beth, 27, of Cashes Green, Stroud, lost nearly all her hearing and was told by doctors she would never again be able to do anything physical after surviving meningitis as a baby.

Now with the help of the Meningitis Trust and other local charities, she has qualified for the Deaflympics.

"I am so relieved that my determination and other people's generosity will finally allow me to represent GB in the Deaflympics," said Beth, who works in Stroud.

"I am so grateful for the support I have received from the trust, not only with the financial grant but also the support I received whilst growing up."

Beth contracted bacterial meningitis – the most dangerous form of the life-threatening disease – at the age of just 13 months.

As a result she was left with no hearing in her left ear and only eight per cent hearing in her right ear.

Doctors at the time also predicted that she would be unable to do anything for herself physically.

But she has since proven them wrong by becoming a PE teacher at local schools and then quitting the job to focus on training for international competitions with ex-Commonwealth champion Lorraine Shaw.

Beth won the gold medal at the European Deaf Athletics Championship in Bulgaria during 2007 and came fifth in the World Championship in Turkey last year.

She has now been chosen to take part in the Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan this September.

Deaf sports in the UK no longer receive government money after funds were re-directed this year towards the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

But the Meningitis Trust has given Beth a £1,000 grant towards travel, while the Gloucestershire Association of Disability and local Rotary clubs also donated funds.

Tracy Lewendon, financial grants officer at the trust, said: "Beth is an amazing young lady who has achieved a lot and we are delighted to help her represent Great Britain in the Deaflympics."

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