Paralympic swimmer Ellen Keane says she’d like to go into media to inspire kids with disabilities.
The Dubliner was only 13 when she first competed in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, making her the youngest athlete to represent Ireland in the contest.
The 23-year-old said: “I would like to go into media because I want to be seen.
“Sometimes I meet girls or boys with one arm or some other disability and they thank me. It’s nice to know I’m making a difference.”
Ellen was born with an underdeveloped lower left arm and would hide her arm in long sleeves until she was in her mid-teens.
The ambitious swimmer has won a bronze medal at the 2016 Paralympic games and a further three bronze World Championship medals.
The DIT student is currently starring in a new Allianz Ireland commercial which tells the story of a young woman Tate, born with a similar disability to Ellen, who is scared to swim because of it.
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Speaking about competing in world championships, Ellen told the Irish Sun: “I wasn’t treated differently because I was just another athlete.
“All of us athletes were there for the exact same reason. That’s what the Paralympics is all about.”
Ellen, who is currently studying Culinary Entrepreneurship says she wants to become a broadcaster.
