As Lauren was celebrating her success disaster struck at the Kent County Championships when she broke both her feet simultaneously. Whilst desperate to get back to the floor, her slow healing injuries held her back.

Pauline stepped in, refusing to give up on Lauren who was struggling in mainstream. Pauline came across what was then known as Gymnastics and movement for people with Disabilities British Championships (GMPD).

Lauren imparted “Pauline said, ‘I think we should give this a try’ and it enabled me to keep going for quite a few more years as a competitive gymnast. I’m so grateful for her”.

“Pauline said, ‘I think we should give this a try’ and it enabled me to keep going for quite

a few more years as a competitive gymnast. I’m so grateful for her”.

One-year later, Lauren competed in her first ‘GMPD’ championship. Wowing the judges, she won Gold All Around (AA) British title and Gold in all four of the apparatus events (bars, beams, floor, vault).

Moving to the disability stream of competition didn’t come without judgement as Lauren’s conditions were not automatically disclosed or obvious. Whilst at first, she wanted to keep her health issues private, once her hidden disabilities were explained, she broke down the barriers between herself and the other contenders to become accepted.

‘I think its always a really good idea to not let other people set limits on what you can do’.

Whilst celebrating her first win, Lauren and her family were thrown into turmoil again, when in January of 2009 she suffered a respiratory arrest.

Not one to suffer in the face of adversity, she bounced back and later that year she retained her AA British title.

Within months, Lauren unable to keep food and water down, was being fed through a tube. After multiple tests, a doctor diagnosed Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic disorder.

The new diagnosis explained many of her symptoms, including difficulties with her endocrine system, multiple breaks, issues with her bowels and lose joints.

Finding new ways to work around her disability allowed for her journey in gymnastics to continue. Coach Pauline said, ‘you didn’t want to punish her because she had an illness.’

‘You didn’t want to punish her because she had an illness.’

Lauren’s determination to succeed saw her retain her AA British title for the third consecutive year.

Lauren’s mum Catherine said, ‘If you don’t let a diagnosis rule you then you can probably do a lot more than if you do.’

‘If you don’t let a diagnosis rule you then you can probably do a lot more than if you do.’

This is the sentiment Lauren has always lived by. She took to the gymnastic floor at the age of 17 for the final time at the British Disability Championships, retaining her AA title and wining 3 gold and one silver on the apparatus. This was despite having intravenous lines inserted earlier in the year to combat her being under-weight.

The decision to retire from gymnastics hadn’t been an easy one and left Lauren’s life in confusion. “I was a gymnast and when I wasn’t had a bit of an existential crisis and I didn’t really know how to think of myself, and it’s probably around that time that I had to consider myself as being disabled”.

‘I was a gymnast and when I wasn’t had a bit of an existential crisis and I didn’t really know how to think of myself, and it’s probably around that time that I had to consider myself as being disabled.’

Lauren is looking forward to exploring new opportunities such as writing features and profiles, but describing herself as indecisive, she said ‘there are many avenues to explore, but for now I’m keeping my options open.’

Asking Lauren where we will see her in the future, this high-flying lady has her sights set on commentating at the Gymnastic World Championships.

A lady living her best life - now that is an aspiration I can get on board with!

You can follow what Lauren’s doing now via @procrastipoise.