Girls Can Do Anything Inspirational Women - Karen Gaffney
Karen Gaffney - Swimmer and Advocate for
People with Disabilities (USA)
First
person with Downs Syndrome to complete a relay swim across the English Channel
The 2012 Olympic Games marked a turning point for me in
terms of disability awareness and the television campaign that marked the run
up to the games was a major influence in the writing of Girls Can Do Anything. For
the first time, the paralympic games were given the airtime they deserved and
the achievements of people with disabilities were publicly and noisily
applauded across the nation. Here were
people who were not made less by their disabilities, they were shown to be so
much more. They were billed as
superhumans who have accomplished phenomenal feats despite a whole host of
obstacles including a wide range of disabilities.
At a time when I was suffering from quite severe depression,
these people gave me courage and inspired me to keep going, despite my own
difficulties. I could have chosen any of
the amazing athletes to appear in the Girls
Can Do Anything gallery of inspirational women, but I wanted to find
someone who we perhaps hadn’t heard of yet.
I wanted to find an ordinary hero who might help inspire us lesser
mortals - someone to tell us that you don’t have to be the best in the world to
be worthwhile. You just have to be the best you
can be.
Which brings me to Karen Gaffney. She’s the first person with Down’s syndrome
to complete a relay swim of the English Channel - or La Manche if you’re on the
other side. She is also the first person with Down’s syndrome to receive a
doctorate, which was awarded to her by the University of Portland for her work
in raising awareness of the abilities of people with her condition. She is one of an increasing number of people
that are changing perceptions of people with Down’s and for that she truly
deserves her place in our gallery.
You might also heard of Collette Divitto, who set up a
cookie making business in Boston which now employs other people with
disabilities.
Madeline Stuart, a professional model
Sujeet Desai, a professional musician who plays seven
instruments and has won numerous awards.