Ezri and I have been accepted to represent Team UK at the ParAgility World Cup Championship 2018. It will be held at the end of August and is being held in the UK this year. This is a special agility competition only for disabled handlers to compete on as fair a playing field as possible. People from across the world come to compete and are placed into specific categories similar to the Paralympic system.

I have a genetic condition called Mitochondrial Myopathy, which is broadly speaking a muscle wasting disease. It has severely affected my eye sight and I have general muscle weakness, particularly bad in my legs, which causes poor balance. The condition is degenerative and I have good and bad days. Doing agility has really helped my condition, as the exercise is in very short bursts, so I can recover after each run. It keeps my mind active and my balance has improved slightly, though I do have to adapt how I run the course as turning certain ways will cause me to fall over! I will be running Ezri, my 9 year old mini poodle, who is semi retired now, but has got to KC grade 6.

Each team member has been asked to raise £125 to help pay for team expenses and must be raised by 23rd June. If I happen to raise more than this amount, the excess will go towards helping out other members of the Paragility team.

Many thanks

Liz & Ezri