<\/p>\n
Having achieved a career grand slam of Paralympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles before reaching her twenties, on paper at least she was living an athlete\u2019s dream.<\/strong><\/p>\n Out of the water, the swimmer\u2019s reality was vastly different though. <\/p>\n Alice was born with bilateral talipes, otherwise known as club foot, with both of her ankles fused and her right foot in particular highly problematic for her.<\/p>\n She was 13 when she first asked surgeons about the possibility of amputation, but they were reluctant to do so while the teenager was still growing.<\/p>\n Alice battled on, claimed gold after gold at successive major events between 2014 and 2019 before she was forced to reassess her situation again.<\/p>\n In 2020 the crutches she relied upon began to take a considerable toll on her body and elbow surgery forced her to miss the Tokyo Paralympics the following year.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mobility was awful,\u201d she tells the Women\u2019s Sports Alliance. <\/p>\n \u201cI wasn’t allowed to self-propelling a wheelchair, I wasn’t allowed to use my crutches even post-surgery, so I was having friends push me around.<\/p>\n \u201cI just started thinking, \u2018I can\u2019t walk without crutches because of my right foot so a prosthetic foot would be way more functional\u2019 and improve my quality of life.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Many consultations with medical professionals, discussions with her friends, family and coaching team followed before Alice \u2013 after \u201cquite a bit of crying\u201d underwent the knife in January 2022.<\/p>\n Her life changed immediately \u201cfor the better\u201d and after five days in hospital she was released home and posted online about \u201cfeeling great\u201d and being \u201cincredibly optimistic\u201d about her future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n