Where:
Online
When:
Tuesday 21 June 2022
Time:
7.00pm
Huntington’s disease is in Sarah’s family on her mother’s side. Sarah and her family supported her mum as she lived with the disease until she passed away in 2020. During her final year of university, just as she was reaching for global sporting success Sarah tested positive for the gene herself.
In this talk Sarah will share her experiences of living life whilst at risk. She will share the impact of her mum’s deteriorating health and finding out, that she too had inherited the same faulty gene. whilst her three siblings did not.
Although most people start showing symptoms between ages 30 and 50, Sarah. at 48 is still not displaying any signs of the onset of Huntington’s disease. In this talk she will speak about her hope for the future and the inspiration she draws from the Huntington’s community.
As Patron of the Scottish Huntington’s Association, she avidly campaigns for Huntington’s disease charities.
About Sarah
Sarah Winckless MBE is a British rower and former star of Team GB. She has a bronze medal from the 2004 Athens Olympics and was twice world champion (2005, 2006).
Although she retired in 2009, Sarah continues to contribute to sport – she is a Henley Royal Regatta Steward, was UK Chef de Mission for Team England at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and serves on the Board of UKAD (UK Anti Doping). In 2020, she was the first woman to be appointed as an umpire in the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, which was delayed because of Covid-19 but went ahead in April 2021. She also works with teams and individuals as a leadership and executive coach.