In 2010 I succumbed to a life changing brain injury in an accident., that sadly my Dad passed away in.

I was 17 years old and was doing my A-Levels at BHASVIC college.

I was not expected to survive the accident and if I did would be left severely disabled. But I proved everyone wrong and with sheer grit and determination I have gone on to live a fulfilling life and regain much of my independence with support from my family and my team of buddies.

During my recovery and my road to independence I slowly put on weight due to the fact that I was no longer able to exercise and also unhealthy eating habits during my rehabilitation. At my heaviest I weighed over 15 stone and was a size 24 in clothing.

I joined slimming world to lose weight and I took up swimming lessons and used the gym. I had never learnt to swim before my accident and so this made things really tough. However, I love my swimming and was very determined to succeed. I have gradually got better and can now do three different strokes. I still have lessons as I would like to be even better. I struggle at times to co-ordinate everything, but I try really hard. I have lost over 5 stone in weight and am now a size 14.

Headway has been a great support since I had my brain injury, and I would like to raise some money for them by doing a sponsored swim.

I plan to swim 1km over the course of a month as this is achievable for me.