Obituary for Baroness Masham of Ilton, Paralympic medalist and fierce defender of disability rights

Baroness Masham of Ilton, Countess of Swinton, who has died aged 87, survived a point-to-point triple fracture of her spine in an accident at the age of 22 to live life to the fullest from her wheelchair.

In addition to being a multiple Paralympic medalist and champion of disability-related causes, he became an advocate for many other causes after being created a Life Peer in 1970; at her death she was the longest-serving female member of the Lords.

Lady Masham founded the Spinal Injuries Association in 1975 and chaired it from 1982; he also promoted bills mandating young riders to wear protective headgear; fought against means testing for disability benefits; and an enthusiastic motorist defended the rights of disabled drivers.

She was also active in child welfare, drug abuse, penal reform, and AIDS, and her schedule was more energetic than most fully mobile people. He was a borstal visitor and in 1971 one of the 47 members of Lord Longfords Commission on Pornography.

Always down-to-earth, Lady Masham emphasized that disabled people had basic needs: to get in and out of their own house and public buildings, to use the toilet, to get transport and to have enough money to live on. The most annoying building for him was the European Commission in Brussels, where every toilet door was too narrow for a wheelchair.