Kearney's 18-month fight just to swim in Paris

Tully Kearney is swimming in three events in Paris, including the S5 100m freestyle which she won in Tokyo

Tully Kearney will cross the English Channel to defend her Paralympic swimming title in Paris next week knowing that she has been tipped to win another gold medal.

But, in reality, for the 27-year-old Aldridge swimmer, after suffering a head injury in 2023 which forced her to withdraw from the world championships, it has meant an 18-month battle just to make it to the start line in Paris.

A head injury is bad enough for any athlete. For someone who has cerebral palsy, the effect was devastating.

It did not just knock her back, it meant she had lost her "happy place" as she could not swim, had to give up her Masters degree at Manchester Metropolitan University - and she even lost her memory for three months.

"It felt like I lost part of myself," she told BBC Radio WM.

"I was involved in an incident and had a head injury which resulted in complex concussion syndrome."

It has taken the help, love and support of her family, led by her mother Amanda Kearney, and the specialist team at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Selly Oak to get Tully back on course.

"All I can say is that the specialist brain trauma team at the QE have been fantastic," she said. "I didn't realise head injuries could be so serious and that a seemingly trivial injury can lead to long-lasting symptoms.

"But, for someone who already has a pre-existing brain injury, I am more at risk because of that, the more symptoms I got.

"I got vertigo and I couldn't train. My happy place has always been the pool. But suddenly it wasn't my happy place any more. it was quite miserable in fact, to push through all that.

"It impacted on my mental health and it has been hard for me to get that enjoyment back. I'm hoping that Paris will really help get back my love for swimming."

Tully Kearney's gold medal came behind closed doors in Covid-hit Tokyo in August 2021

This is the third Paralympic Games Kearney, who trains at Loughborough University, has been selected for.

In Rio, in 2016, she was forced to withdraw shortly before the games with the muscle condition dystonia, as well as an ongoing shoulder injury.

"Tully was born with very mild cerebral palsy," Amanda said. "It was when she was 13 she started to deteriorate.

"At a time when her friends were becoming more independent, she became a full- time wheelchair user.

"That was hard for her to deal with. Then when she had to withdraw from the Rio Games with dystonia, that had a huge effect on her mental health."

Then came Tokyo in 2021 - a year later than scheduled because of the Covid pandemic and still behind closed doors.

"It was the first time I'd not been there to support her and it felt really strange. We had to go to the Channel 4 studio in Leeds and watched it live, which was really nerve-wracking, " Amanda said.

"It will be nice to be there this time. She won't see me but she'll know I'm there. I start off quite quiet but as the races go on I get more and more excited. And we will all be there under a flag printed with 'TEAM TULLY' on it.

"I'm so looking forward to experiencing it all with a crowd this time," she added.

And why would she not be?

As well as defending the S5 100m freestyle title, Tully will also compete in the S5 200m freestyle and the S5 50m backstroke.

She is ranked number one in all three. Now is her moment to put "a difficult 18 months" behind her.

Tully and Amanda Kearney were talking to BBC Radio WM's Sarah Julian