FEATURE
anything apart from making you feel better for about 20 seconds . The most important thing is to change their attitude , not to tell them what you think of them .
“ I might have a rant later but I can deal with it , however annoyed I am , because sport made me quite thick skinned . But I ’ m conscious there are disabled people who find it harder to deal with . If I write to someone on House of Lords headed paper they generally have to respond , so generally when travelling by train I get treated all right – but I know lots of disabled people who don ’ t . So if people write to me about bad experiences they ’ ve had , I try to help where I can .
“ The reality is that life ’ s harder if you ’ re disabled . London 2012 absolutely changed attitudes towards Paralympians but it didn ’ t change attitudes towards disabled people , nor did it have responsibility to do that .”
As a former athlete , she ’ s also a natural campaigner when it comes to encouraging more people to lead a physically active life for the good of their health . “ This is the first generation of kids that will die before their parents because of physical inactivity ,” she sighs .
“ Inactivity costs the UK £ 80 billion a year and there
“ London 2012 absolutely changed attitudes towards Paralympians but it didn ’ t change attitudes towards disabled people ”
– TANNI GREY-THOMPSON
are 37,000 premature deaths a year as a result of obesity . The NHS isn ’ t sustainable in its current format so we have to get costs down – and encouraging people to be more active is part of making that happen . That message has to start at the youngest age while children are still in school .”
Although born and raised in Cardiff , Tanni is now very much an adopted Teessider , having followed husband Ian here in 1999 , as he worked as a research chemist at the Wilton chemical complex . Having initially lived in Redcar , they moved to Eaglescliffe nearly 10 years ago to make it a little easier for her to catch regular trains to London where she carries out her Parliamentarian duties .
“ Ian proudly tells people that we moved home for the sake of my career , but they assume it was more than
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