Climbing makes me happy. Period.
I first remember being on rocks aged about 8; my tummy turned, my eyes widened, I knew something magical had just happened. Sports are a perfect fit for me. I am a passionate, driven, and competitive human. I was on all the sports teams, I loved to compete!
Even so, illness plagued me. I saw many different doctors growing up and had two operations on my knee by the time I was 10. Yet, I remained undiagnosed until my late 30s. I tried to keep sports in my life, indoor climbing here and there and made it outside only when someone would scoop me up, take me and provide all the kit.
Slowly, sports ebbed their way out of my life, fluctuations in my abilities were so hard to understand. I began to think of myself as lazy, a label a PE teacher gave me when I was 14.
Then in 2017, my health crashed severely, and I finally received a diagnosis of hEDS (hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), which later changed to HSD (Hypermobile Spectrum Disorder). Understanding that came with the diagnosis has been life-changing, though my walking ability was still declining. When, at the end of the first lockdown in 2020, something inside me said – YOU NEED TO CLIMB. It had been years since I touched plastic. There was a climbing wall opening that week close to where I live! I went to The Climbing Hangar, Martchworks site on their opening day. I haven’t looked back since.
Slowly and tentatively at first, scared because so much advice out there was don’t climb. But I could feel it, how good it was for me. I knew there must be others who felt the same. I found a group on Instagram called EDS Climbers. This completely reassured and supported me. Two years ago, I had to scoot my legs up behind the trolly to make it to the bread aisle in Tescos (why is it always so far!). Compared to recently, when the logistics of getting to a Rolling Stones concert started overwhelming my neurodivergent brain, I decided to walk. Three-point four miles!
I feel honoured to be taking over and jointly looking after the EDS Climbers pages. I am looking forward to getting to know the climbers there. There isn’t a para-climbing community in Liverpool. I have great climbing friends, but it can feel pretty lonely sometimes when I am doing the V0 circuit for the millionth time!
Having to be so careful when I am in pain has its benefits, though. It has turned me into a half-decent slab climber. One of my biggest struggles is bearing my weight, especially when POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) flares. Dysregulation also, where everything just feels off; the music, the light, the temperature, the sound. When it is like this, it is hard to find a rhythm on the wall.
I am still processing grief around having lost sports for so long. But, in all, halfway through my 45th trip around the Sun, I feel incredibly blessed to be part of this community. Climbing is a meaningful part of my life!
Visible Helene Therapy 