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CUTE at a button, wonder tot Ellie Challis melted the hearts of peoples when she proudly presented her prosthesis on the front page of The Suns 15 years ago.
Now a determined 17-year-old is preparing to represent the UK in swimming at the Tokyo Paralympics.
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Ellies ’story is courage, strength, tremendous attitude and his belief that there is always a way.
Ellie, the youngest competitor on the British team, said: My father thought I would never walk again. Now I represent my country in the Paralympics.
I am going to go there and do my best and enjoy every minute. I can’t wait to get started.
Ellie, who has twin sister Sophie, contracted meningitis at the age of 16 months and had only a five percent chance of surviving.
His father, 57-year-old father Paul, who has divorced Ellies ’mother Lisa, said: It’s a word every parent fears of meningitis.
She was such a lucky girl
He actually died for two minutes. His heart stopped. We were in a room when he was on a flat mountain. It was so close.
He was in a coma for five weeks and the only thing you could hope for is that he survive.
His fingertips and toes started to turn black so you can see it rising up and up.
Ellie was transferred from St Marys Hospital in Paddington, West London, to Broomfields Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, in September 2005.
Four days later, he was amputated with both legs above the knee and both hands removed under the elbow due to septicemia. He spent another 17 days in the hospital before returning home.
Paul, who resigned as regional manager for bookmaker Ladbrokes as a full-time caregiver for Ellies, said: The first three months we were back in the hospital almost every other day. It was almost constant appointments, inspections and physiotherapy.
But Ellies ’incredible spirit made the trip much easier.
Intentional baby right from the start, she learned to walk at just nine months old, long before her twin sister.
She received her first set of 20,000 foot prostheses when she was three years old. Funded by generous friends and neighbors in Rainham, Essex, and mailed money via Pauls’ mailbox
As their parents turned their backs, he emptied the grain packs on the kitchen floor so he and Sophie could eat away.
Paul added: Ellie was a little fucking, in the best way possible. She is such a lucky girl. His attitude is that there is always a way to do something.
She received her first set of 20,000 foot prostheses when she was three years old. Funded by generous friends and neighbors in Rainham, Essex, and they mailed money through Pauls ’mailbox, even though the family had never asked for help.
And the whole nation took root in Elley after The Sun presented an inspiring image of her in her adorable pink dress, the tongue stopping in focus and walking on her new feet on December 7, 2006.
Paul said: It is amazing to see this picture again and think about how far he has come.
Ellie never saw disability as an obstacle. At Engaines Elementary School, Little Clacton, Ellie played football against her able-bodied friends. Then at the age of 14, he became the first British four-time amputee to dominate snowboarding.
Ellie, who has two siblings from Paul’s previous relationship, told BBC Sport: I have older brothers and sisters, so I’ve grown similar to them and I’ve learned to do everything myself.
Sport was a way for me to interact with people. Everyone assumes you can’t do much until they actually meet you.
One of her latest accomplishments is tying long blonde hair.
He added: I want to do things that everyone says I can’t, just to prove them wrong. Paul taught Elli to swim on family vacation.
He took him in his wheelchair to the edge of the pool and dropped him to the amazement of the spectators.
He said: You will hear everyone sigh. When he rose to the surface, he was half tall.
In 2015, a casual meeting at a local Pizza Hut got Elli connected to a disabled swimming pool.
Two years later he started competing and two years later he joined the GB regional team.
In April 2019, at an international para swimming meeting in Glasgow, Ellie broke the British and European record as well as the breaststroke world record.
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Months later, he won a bronze medal at the Para-swimming World Championships in London. At that point, Ellie looked at the Paralympics that should have been held in 2020. Then the pandemic struck.
I would be an absolute wreck watching him
Paul said: We were lucky because I bought a nine-meter and four-meter pool garden early.
We had three faucets to fill it, and the company forgot the heating element, so it took four days before Ellie could only control a couple of lengths without freezing.
He practiced it for six weeks and did about six miles on a handwheel every day. When it was announced that the race would be postponed to this year, he only allowed himself to live for a short time before he reasoned: Well, I’m a faster swimmer then.
He competes for ParalympicsGB in four individual events in Tokyo.
His biggest inspiration is para swimmer Ellie Simmonds, who was the youngest athlete on the Beijing team at the age of 13 in 2008 and will compete in his fourth Paralympics in Tokyo, hoping to increase his five gold medals.
But Ellie herself is amazing. As Dr. Simon Nadel, who helped save his life in the hospital in 2005, said: For some patients, even getting up and walking or going to school is a great achievement.
It is remarkable for him to achieve what he has achieved. Ellie, a fan of Ed Sheeran and boxer Anthony Joshua, is studying baking at university and hopes to one day open her own cake shop.
Paul, who moved to Manchester with Ellie to be able to train at the National Performance Center, says: Ellie enjoys every minute. He sounds very relaxed and the shell comes to the blocks with a big smile on his face.
He no longer tells me about his practice times or whether he has a chance at a medal.
I would be an absolute wreck watching him.
I could not be more proud of everything he has achieved.
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Five other GB Paralympic watches
WAY BAYLEY
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TABLE tennis star Will is a defensive Paralympic winner.
2014 World Champion Tunbridge Wells of Kent was born with an osteoarthritis that restricts movement in all four of his limbs.
He has recovered from a knee injury he received in Strictly exercises in 2019.
Will, 33, said: I play the best table tennis of my career.
Will, 33, said: I play the best table tennis of my career.
DAME SARAH STORY
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Dame Sarah, with 14 gold medals, is the most successful women’s Paralympic.
He was born without a functioning left hand and started swimming.
In Tokyo, he defends personal chase, time trial and road races.
Manchester-born Sarah, 43, needs two golds to match Mike Kennys ’British Paralympic record.
RICHARD WHITE HEAD
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The PAR athlete hopes to defend his 200-meter T44 championship, which he won in London and Rio.
Richard, 45, of Nottingham, also won a silver medal in the T42 100m in 2016.
He ran 40 marathons in 40 days in 2013, becoming the first two-legged amputee to run this distance, and hopes to compete in the 2024 Paris Championships.
HANNAH COCKROFT
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The wheelchair competitor has five gold from his two Paralympics.
In May, he improved world records in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter races.
Hurricane Hannah, 29, from Halifax, West York, suffered two cardiac arrests at birth, causing her brain damage, weak hips, deformed legs and feet, and mobility problems.
SIR LEE PEARSON
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The 47-year-old riding star has amassed an impressive portion of 11 Paralympic golds, two silver and one bronze from the previous five games and hopes to increase that number.
Sir Lee, of Cheddleton, Staffs, is considered Para Dressage’s most recognizable face and earned him the nickname The Godfather.
She had congenital arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, which meant that her muscles did not grow in the uterus and joint movement was limited.
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