Bio
How I Started:
I started Karate when I was eight years old. I trained for five days a week and competed winning 24 trophies including regional tournaments and the national championships. I stopped when I was 15 years old and had a gap until I was 24 when I went back to a Boxing gym and a coach recommended I try Bareknuckle Boxing because the gloves made it difficult for me to compete as I have autism and ADHD. This makes the hand-eye coordination difficult when I am wearing gloves so Bareknuckle was the perfect fit for me!
My Greatest Achievement:
My greatest achievement is winning the UK National Championships in Karate. I was thirteen years old when I won this, and I remember the noise really clearly. It was held at the NEC in Birmingham and I competed alongside the adults on the same day. I wasn’t nervous on the day or when I was competing, but afterwards the scale of the event really surprised me and I started to realise just how big this achievement was.
My Greatest Challenge:
My greatest challenge has been dealing with being an undiagnosed autistic person. It was very difficult because I was picked on quite a lot in my teenage years because of the way I operated, and I was always confused as to why I was different to the other kids and why my brain worked differently. I was diagnosed at the age of 23, and it was like a lightbulb moment where I understood why I was different and the diagnosis helped me to accept who I am and live to be my true self. A year after my diagnosis I decided it was time to try combat sports again and I kickstarted my career as a Bareknuckle Boxer!
My Hobbies:
Outside of Boxing I like to spend time and game with my son where we have a deal that if we play a few hours of Xbox then we have to go outside for a walk or something of the sorts. I love to spend time with my sister too so we try to see each other as much as possible which I adulthood is much harder than you could anticipate!
My Future Aspirations:
In the future I want to go for the British title next year, and following from that I want build up and win the World Title in Bareknuckle Boxing. My main goal is to inspire my son to show him that even though we both suffer from autism, it can be a blessing and that he can achieve fantastic things.