Paracyclist Richael Timothy on how an acquired brain injury changed her life path

At the time they said I’d developed epilepsy. I began getting weakness in my right side.

One night in June 2016 I woke up and had no feeling in my right side. I tried to move my leg in the bed and I couldn’t.

I tried to talk but my speech was slurred. So it looked like a stroke and it was straight to the hospital.

They did a scan and they saw all this swelling on my brain, which had been causing the seizures, the weakness in my right foot, the headaches. The swelling had come on slowly.

It didn’t cause trouble until it hit a certain part – my motor function. It was June 8. My brother had just started his Leaving Cert. My mum was going from me in hospital back home to him.

I knew that something wasn’t right but I didn’t think it was as bad as it was. I thought they’d treat me and I’d be home in a few weeks, back to normal. 

I was naive, I didn’t know how it would impact, that when the brain swells blood supply is cut off and brain cells die. And there’s no way to replenish, get that back, that’s the main issue.

I was treating it like I was sick and was going to get better. The doctors never said ‘you won’t go back to the way you were, you won’t get your full function back’. 

The physios were saying ‘we’ll get you back to the best we can’. I thought I’d get back to football, just the basic things I was doing day to day: walking, running.

HHT Ireland asked me to attend an international conference in Croatia. I’d done science in college so I had an interest.

This doctor, head of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia worldwide, based out of America, I was just walking by him in a restaurant and he could pick up, from the way I walked, that something had happened to my brain.

He said to take how I was 18 months after my first symptoms appeared as my new baseline. He said ‘that’s as good as you’re going to be’.

It was a shock but it was what I needed to hear. That was the end of summer 2017 and because I still had a few months to go to the 18 months, I thought ‘I’ll be better then’. But I didn’t get any better.

A lot of doctors would want to be positive and say ‘give it time’, whereas he was just straight out. It was one of the best things I was told. I stopped focusing on what I couldn’t do, and tried to do more of what I was able.

Up to when I acquired the brain injury during treatment for hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia, I’d been sports-mad, playing Gaelic and soccer at high-level college and county (Roscommon) level. I was at college studying sports science.

I was able to do everything everyone else could do. Now suddenly I wasn’t able to drive, I couldn’t walk down slopes. I could walk downstairs but slowly. I was left with 30% power in my leg.

I started para-cycling as a result – that’s what qualified me. When I went to competitions in 2018 I met a man who had cerebral palsy who’d also qualified because of his disability. 

He said this is the best thing that’s ever happened to you. I said ‘no’, the best thing that could happen was to get back to what I was. Everything would be a lot easier day to day if I didn’t have a disability. I get really fatigued.

But really it was the best thing. As someone who’d acquired a disability, it opened doors for me that wouldn’t have opened otherwise. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now.

But it took me years to realise and admit that. I won my first international medal at the Manchester Para-Cycling International in December 2019. 

I won bronze at the 2020 World Track Championships, and represented Ireland at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

I wanted to continue in sport, give back to my family and everyone who put so much into my sports growing up. I didn’t want to dismiss sports in my life. It has always been important for my mental health. And to be able to compete at international level is brilliant.

My partner gave birth to our daughter in August 2023. Lucy is 11 months now. She’s another reason for me to keep doing what I’m doing. 

My having the brain injury is the only thing she’ll ever know. Having Lucy opens up a lot of doors around what are the big things and the small things of life.

Without the acquired brain injury, my life would have taken a completely different path. I’d probably have been in the usual nine-to-five job, playing a bit of sport on the side. I try not to overly look back on what could have been, given the opportunities I’ve had.

• Richael Timothy is an ambassador for Nestlé Cereals Ireland (official ‘Breakfast Partner’ of Irish Paralympic Team 2024). 
• New promotional Nestlé packs offer chance to win a trip to support the athletes in person at the games in Paris (August 28-September 8). 
• https://www.nestle-cereals.com/uk/paralympicsireland