World Para Surfing Championship: Kirsty Taylor ready to compete after 'being given gift of walking'

In November 2022, Welsh para-athlete Kirsty Taylor faced an incredibly tough decision, as she faced the likely end of her athletics career.

Having captained Great Britain at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in 2019, she returned to Loughborough University with two silver medals, but she also began experiencing greater pain.

This pain would ultimately lead Taylor to undergoing surgery to amputate her leg below the knee.

She was born with talipes, better known as clubfoot, a lower limb condition where some of the tendons in her Achilles and foot did not form properly.

Previous surgeries had aided her mobility but did not rid her of the pain she was experiencing, where she struggled to walk and began using a wheelchair.

Following discussions with doctors, it was deemed that amputation below the knee would potentially be the best option.

"I was in a position where I was basically using my wheelchair every day, so if the surgery goes badly then I'll just be in a wheelchair with one leg rather than two," said Taylor.

"It was a big journey to get to that point of acceptance and hoping that if I do something it might get better."

As someone who had always been sporty, Taylor had competed at kayaking and canoe polo and also played wheelchair basketball.

"Post surgery I wanted to approach sport with a new mindset of just doing things recreationally and for fun," said Taylor.

"My personality is giving everything my all, but the intention was to just have fun and enjoy it."

Kirsty Taylor won two silvers at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in 2019

Entering the basketball off-season, the 23-year-old was hoping to find another sport to fill the time in the summer.

"My fiance Xander and I had this plan to go out to South Africa and Australia for the summer," Taylor said.

"I wanted to get back into surfing, I'd done a little before my amputation.

"I wrote a list of the stuff I'd wanted to do and re-learn to do, and surfing was pretty high up on the priority list.

"I hadn't surfed with my amputation, I didn't know if it would be different.

"We went down for one lesson and the guys at Surfability were great, they helped us a lot.

"I'm pretty sure I stood up basically straight away which really surprised me, kind of just like muscle memory."

Testing the waves of Cape Town and the Gold Coast, Taylor kept in contact with the team in Wales to see what she might need to do to qualify for the World Para Surfing Championship.

Less than 12 months on from surgery, the former T44 sprinter and long-jumper is one of five Welsh surfers selected for the team competing at Huntington Beach, California, USA.

Taylor is the first female to represent Wales and the first with a below the knee amputation to compete for her country at the championships.

"I've been given a second gift of being able to walk again and do all this," said Taylor.

"Let's make the most of it and see how far I can push it, how much I can do.

"There's no point getting a leg and then sitting at home the same as I've always done.

"As an amputee there's a whole other world of stuff that's opened up, I want to experience that, I want to see that.

"I've just embraced that and tried to be slightly more laid back, but it hasn't really worked out that way!"

Kirsty Taylor plays wheelchair basketball for Loughborough University

Now living pain-free, Taylor says she can experience and enjoy "10 times more" than before her surgery.

"I was on painkillers every day before surgery and now I can't remember the last time I took them," add Taylor.

"It was months ago that I took any painkillers and I've done ten times more now than I could have.

"A year ago today I'd have never been able to surf, I would never have been able to do any of that because I was in such a bad position but now it's amazing.

"It's a new opportunity, unfamiliar, which is nerve-wracking but exciting."

The 2023 ISA World Para Surfing Championships take place from 5-11 November.