THE RACE IS ON FOR INDIA SASHA!
A mum and daughter from north Belfast have teamed up to take part in a fundraising campaign with a difference to raise awareness for disability charity Reach. They tell Maureen Coleman what inspired them to get their running shoes on.
India Sasha Atkinson says she’s nothing like her athlete mum Tracey.
The 24-year-old disability advocate and content creator from north Belfast doesn’t share her mum’s passion for running, for example, and her idea of a holiday isn’t competing in half marathons in the sweltering sun.
When India Sasha, who was born without a left hand, was invited to the Paralympics in Paris last summer, she did think how wonderful it might be to take part in one’s chosen sport at that level. Indeed, collaborating with some form of sport is something she might consider in the future. But winning European Masters Athletics Championship medals for running isn’t on her radar, she laughs.
And yet these two courageous women are more alike that they care to admit. Both mum and daughter have faced tough times and overcome obstacles and are now working together to raise awareness and funds for Reach, a charity supporting children and families with limb difference.
The pair will be taking part in a 12 Races, 12 Countries, 12 Months challenge, with 45-year-old Tracey running all 12 in various locations while India will be joining her on three.
The first race was in Marrakesh in Morrocco last month and the last one will be in Valencia in Spain in December.
“I’m not a runner like mum, but I will go and support her as much as I can,” says India Sasha.
“I was a bit nervous about the Marrakesh race because I didn’t have much time to train so planned to walk it. But hopefully by the next one, I’ll have got some training in.
“I am quite competitive, so I am like mum in that sense.”
Tracey was relatively late to running, only taking it up in her late 30s after a brain tumour diagnosis.
The mum-of-three, who worked in the Civil Service at the time, decided to take a career break to do an arts degree. On completion of her studies, she underwent tests as she’d been suffering from symptoms of epilepsy. Doctors discovered Tracey had a brain tumour but warned her off surgery, saying it was too dangerous. She was put on medication which had unpleasant side effects, but she continued to have seizures, once a day, three times a week.
“Life was difficult,” admits Tracey, who returned to the Civil Service after graduating.
“I was losing memory due to partial seizures. It was like a computer switching off and took an awful lot of energy out of me.
“I tried to live as normal a life as possible, but I really struggled,” says Tracey.
“I did a lot of research into brain surgery and spoke to a neurologist who told me I was going to get worse. That’s when I decided to do something about it.”
Tracey was referred to a hospital in Liverpool where she had a functional MRI scan. A few months later, she underwent trailblazing surgery that isn’t available in Northern Ireland – having the operation whilst still awake. Two medical teams took part in the surgery, one to map her brain activity and the other to remove the tumour. One huge risk was the loss of speech, so a speech therapist was on hand to keep her talking.
Tracey’s surgeon had told her beforehand that she needed to be physically and mentally fit as the surgery was potentially dangerous. So, despite never having run before, she joined the local gym and hit the treadmill, under the supervision of India Sasha, who went along to keep an eye on her mum. Tracey trained twice a week at Shankill Leisure Centre and soon progressed to outdoor running.
“It was good to get oxygen around my brain and even though everyone thought I was mad, pulling on my trainers to go out into the freezing cold, I really took to it,” says Tracey.
“I just kept running, a bit like Forrest Gump! I felt like I’d been given my life back.”
Tracey joined her local running club, Albertville Harriers in north Belfast, taking part in Parkruns around the Waterworks. With increased stamina, speed and strength, she decided to start competing, running her first half marathon in Denmark in 2017.
Well and truly bitten by the bug, Tracey kept at it, running in a half marathon in Malaga in 2019. She was then picked to take part in a Paul Pollock training programme to run a sub three (under three hours) marathon in Belfast. She was one of only two women selected out of a group of 10 and ran the marathon in an incredible 2.56 hours.
Through the NI Civil Service, Tracey bagged a place in the London Marathon and started to use her platform to join her daughter’s fund-raising campaign. India Sasha had already been making a name for herself as a staunch advocate for disability rights and a content creator, working with brands such as Paralympics GB, Coca-Cola and L’Oreal. With a platform of 500,000 followers on TikTok and 90,000 on Instagram, she was well placed to get her message across.
Using her platform, India Sasha regularly posts humorous and light-hearted content, such as her Rock, Paper, Scissors video, which went viral.
She and her family also organised a gala event at Stormont last year, raising just over £7,000 for Reach. Now she intends to return the favour to mum, joining her on three of the 12 races.
“Mum has gone further than what was expected of her and I’m so proud of her, after everything she’s been through,” says India Sasha.
“I do worry a bit because it’s such a big challenge, physically, financially and logistically, and because she’s my mum after all, but she’s very determined.”
When it comes to that fierce determination, it’s clear the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Like her mum, India Sasha has shown remarkable resilience too, dealing with bullies at primary school, who picked on her because of her disability.
India Sasha admits there were times she felt lonely and uncomfortable in her own body. Growing up, she never saw representation of disabilities in the media. And while she acknowledges there have been some improvements in recent years, with some actors and reality stars with disabilities being featured on shows like Eastenders, The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing, she believes there is still a long way to go.
“As a child, I felt I didn’t really fit in and there were no portrayals of people with disabilities in the media,” she says.
“Primary school was really bad because I got bullied by some boys, and at secondary school, I did everything in my power to fit in.
“I had a prosthetic hand, which I wore in my early years. It wasn’t practical and was more of a hindrance on my ability to do things.
“As the demands grew on me, I became an expert at hiding my prosthetic hand in my pocket or covering it up with my other hand. I felt embarrassed.”
However, when India Sasha began university, her confidence blossomed and gradually, she started to come out of her shell. She got a part-time job in an NHS call centre during the Covid pandemic to pay for her student accommodation in Liverpool and started to experiment with making videos for TikTok as a creative way of further supplementing her income.
One video, which showed her putting her hair in a ponytail, went viral and India Sasha suddenly found herself an overnight social media sensation. With hundreds of thousands of followers on both TikTok and Instagram, she was perfectly positioned to act as an ambassador for the charity Reach, who approached her and asked her to come on board.
“A lot of my videos are funny because comedy is universal and to be fair, my dad is a bit of a joker, so I probably get that from him,” she says.
“It’s all about building a bridge and raising awareness and while things have changed a bit, more needs to be done.
“Shows like Strictly might have a person without a limb on one year, but then they don’t the following year, and it shouldn’t be a check box exercise in diversity.
“As a full-time content creator, I can now use my platform to raise visibility and while I’m not about pushing myself the way mum does, taking part in her 12 Races, 12 Countries, 12 Months challenge will help raise money and awareness for Reach as well as being a great way of travelling, collaborating with mum and getting fit!”
