Keeping life on track

12-year-old Danielle Bradshaw explains the choices she's made in order to chase her lifelong dream of becoming a professional athlete

During my birth my leg came out over my shoulder, so I was born with a dislocated right knee as well as both my hips. It meant that as a child I had to wear a knee brace all the time and often use a wheelchair. Growing up it really affected me, I felt like I couldn’t be a normal child.

I went to two primary schools. At the first one, there was this one girl who used to trip me up, making me fall over. Her mean attitude made me feel even more upset and alone because no one there would ever hang out with me; I was constantly playing by myself with my skipping rope. I was bullied there for months before I told anyone because I just thought it would get better, but it got worse every day. So I told my parents and moved to another school, where kids were a lot nicer. My friends would stay indoors with me at playtime and get toys out for me and stuff.

When I was about nine or ten I found out about the Paralympics and I just thought “why don’t I do that?”

I felt like if I had an operation to remove the part of my leg that doesn’t work I could do things like everyone else. My parents tried to talk me out of having an operation at first but we talked to a lot of doctors and they came around.

When I saw my stump for the first time it was amazing, I felt so happy and excited. I was in hospital for four days and all through it I couldn’t stop looking at it.

It’s not long since my operation so I’m using crutches and a wheelchair to get around. I’m going to have a prosthetic leg fitted so I can walk without crutches and then as soon as I can do that I’m going to start running. I’m planning to join a running club so that I can compete in the long distance runs.

Sadly I will be too young to compete in the Paralympics in 2012. I’ve been invited to the Olympic Stadium for a tour which I’m really excited about, and there’s talk of other things happening for me too. But what I really care about is being able to compete once I’m 16. It’s a huge challenge but a good one.

I hope people will treat me the same way now that part of my leg isn’t there anymore. I don’t care what strangers, what anyone else thinks; it’s my body and I live with it, it doesn’t bother me at all.

• Danielle Bradshaw was talking to Cathy Reay