Anne Wafula Strike MBE (born 8 May 1969) is a Harlow-based British

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

. Wafula Strike was born in Mihuu in

Bungoma Bungoma is the county town of Bungoma County in Kenya. It was established as a trading centre in the early 20th century. Naming Bungoma, was named from eng'oma—the Bukusu word for drums. The town was originally a meeting place for Bukusu ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, and contracted polio at the age of two, resulting in a later

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is a specialist orthopaedic hospital located in the London Borough of Harrow, United Kingdom, and a part of Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. It provides the most comprehensive range of ...

diagnosis of below T7 paralysis. Arriving in the UK in April 2000, she was introduced to wheelchair racing in 2002 and in 2004 became the first Kenyan wheelchair racer to represent her country, competing in the T53 400m finals at the Paralympics in Athens. Following a successful application for British citizenship in 2006, she became a member of

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their Great Britain at the Olympics, British Olympic team. The brand was developed after Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nation's poor perfor ...

and, after reclassification, now competes in the T54 racing category as a British athlete. A past winner of the BBC's 'My Story' competition, her autobiography ''In my Dreams I Dance'' was published by HarperCollins in 2010. In 2013, Wafula Strike was featured in

Paul Stenning Paul David Stenning (born 12 June 1976) is an English author, ghostwriter and poet. He has written twenty-nine books, of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and biography. The best-known of his books is ''The Robert Pattinson Album'', a biography of Ro ...

's ''Success - By Those Who've Made It'', alongside many celebrities and notable people. Hers was the last personal biography featured in the book, which Stenning explained was because her story was the most powerful and the greatest example of success. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

for services to disability sport and charity. In January 2017, while on a CrossCountry train, she was unable to reach a toilet on time due to sitting in a wheelchair. She lost control of her bladder and urinated into her clothing. In the aftermath, she criticised CrossCountry for failing to provide a working disabled accessible toilet on the train. Anne has one child - named Timothy - with her husband Norman. In 2020 Wafula was named as a special envoy to the Commonwealth by Commonwealth Secretary-General

Patricia Scotland Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, (born 19 August 1955), is a British diplomat, barrister and politician, serving as the sixth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations. She was elected at the 2015 Commonwealth Head ...

References

External links

Anne Wafula Strike's website
1969 births Living people Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Sportspeople from Harlow British female wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers Members of the Order of the British Empire Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Kenyan disabled sportspeople Paralympic competitors for Great Britain {{UK-athletics-bio-stub