Ellie Cole Prosthetic Fund

After losing my leg to a rare form of cancer at age 3, I was thrown into the pool for rehabilitation. After having spent a year in hospital whilst doctors tried to manage the cancer amid bouts of chemotherapy and blood transfusions, my parents were eager to have me experience life in every possible way. Swimming quickly became far more than rehabilitation; it became a way for me to live the best life I could.

It didn't take long for me to realise that with the right mindset and the right support, I could achieve anything. At the age of 16, I was at my first Paralympics in Beijing competing against my childhood hero, Natalie Du Toit. I came home with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals and the belief that I could do and achieve anything.
I spent the next four years training hard for London 2012, experiencing some tough personal times along the way, including the illness and loss of my dear friend and coach eight weeks out from the London Games.
I called on all my strength, resilience and of course support and in London took home four gold medals including the one that saw me beat my childhood hero, Natalie. When I returned from London, my body was a mess. I had trained it beyond its limits and it fell apart. In 2013, I underwent a double shoulder reconstruction and was told I would never swim again.

Eight months later, I returned to the pool knowing what needed to be done. As much as it hurt, I wanted to come back to fight another day; this time at Rio 2016.

In order to achieve my goal, I really need the best prosthetic available on the market; one that most closely resembles (functionally) an everyday human leg and will allow me to train to the best of my ability in and out of the water. These waterproof prosthetic limbs are difficult to come across.
The time has come to stop my prosthesist from constantly fixing my prosthetic leg from water exposure (and pulling her hair out). Prosthetic knees aren't designed to be exposed hours of water exposure every day. The time has come to stop sending my prosthetic leg to Germany every two months to be repaired. The X3 is a completely waterproof prosthetic knee component.
An important part of my rehabilitation is my Strength & Conditioning program. With constant back, leg and hip problems it has been difficult to train through a consistent and successful training block. The X3 unit will allow me to finally walk on a limb that closely resembles a real human leg. This will enable me to perform every day movements such as walking up and down stairs, down hills, stepping out onto objects with a prosthetic leg first and walking in water. These are every day things that aren't given a second thought to everyday people but make me envious beyond words.

Unfortunately, a prosthetic knee component such as this is unachievable without the generous support of others. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and if there are any questions please contact me!