Yahoo Lifestyle Disabled actor says skiing has brought back joy
A Hollyoaks actor who started using a wheelchair at the age of 15 said she has "been able to find a bit of who I was before" since taking up skiing.
Ellie Henry from Milton Keynes developed Ehlers-Danlos syndrome - a connective tissue disorder – as a teenager.
"I hope that more people with disabilities try skiing – it really is something I didn't think I would be able to do, but I get so much joy from it," she said after appearing on the BBC's Ski Sunday programme.
Now 24, Henry has been cast alongside James Nesbitt and Minnie Driver for Netflix series Run Away, based on a Harlan Coban novel.
"The character I'm playing is not disabled in the book, and they weren't casting for a disabled character, but my agent put me forward for it. And luckily Netflix and the whole casting team have been so open-minded in bringing me in for that role.
"My agent is phenomenal. They only represent disabled talent and they've championed me since day one," she said.
As a child, Henry's Saturday session with Theatre Train was "the favourite part of every week", but she had not considered an acting career until her disorder emerged.
"When I was 15 I did a pirouette and dislocated every joint in my right leg. I couldn't get up. They said 'you've got Ehlers-Danlos syndrome'.
"I was looking to achieve a lot of GCSEs at quite a high level, then medically that wasn't possible for me.
"So I looked at the other things I enjoyed doing, and decided to go to drama school. I think I had assumed you couldn't do it as a career because I found it so fun. I'm very, very glad that I did."
'It's completely possible'
Henry's love of acting is matched by her new-found enthusiasm for skiing, which has "completely taken over my life in the best way".
"I've always been so sporty, and it wasn't until I got injured that I stopped doing all sport.
"It took me a few years to get involved in adaptive sport, because I was looking for the most dangerous, fun, adrenaline rushing kind of sport I could do. That's how I landed on skiing."
She discovered charity Disability Snowsport UK which provided indoor lessons before organising a trip to Andorra, which features on Ski Sunday.
"They've made going up a mountain and throwing yourself down a hill so accessible and so adaptive, and it's completely possible.
"On the trip, there were so many people with a varying range of disabilities and we could all ski in different ways."
Henry feels the snow sport has offered her a new kind of independence.
"I've been able to find a little bit of who I was before. This is the first time I've been able to see that energy in myself again," she said.
Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
