“When you get knocked down, get back up and don’t ever give up!” - Mallie’s story

Blog -

We chatted to Mallie about living with CF, winning a national boxing award, and her dreams of making it to the Olympics. 

Mallie with her family

Living my life with CF 

My mum found out that I had CF when I was a baby, they did the heel prick test and it was a bit of a shock. I have two older sisters Paighton, Reegan and a little sister called Essie and none of them have the condition. 

Mallie’s mum Sarah said “Mallie was in and out of hospital when she was little, this went on for about four years and then we had a good few years when she started primary school. Then she had a rough couple years again but getting into boxing has really helped with Mallie’s health, as it keeps her active and we’ve noticed that it helps to keep the coughs away too.”

Every day is different, sometimes I wake up and feel fine but there are times when I feel tired and I might get a cough and feel quite drained. The last couple of months have been the best for me. I’m normally on emergency standby to go into hospital this time of year, because I get allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) which causes my lung function to drop and it affects my breathing. Last year was tough because I had a bowel obstruction and I was rushed into hospital, and it was ten days before I could be discharged.

This year it has been difficult to get hold of Creon, my mum hasn’t been able to get it from the pharmacy and the nurses at the hospital have been helping us to get hold of it. 

Sarah said “I don't know what the future is going to be with Creon, we have enough medicine at the moment but it seems to be getting harder and harder to get hold of it and it’s quite concerning.”

Discovering my love for boxing

I’m 15, but I started boxing when I was 12 years old. I went to my local boxing club in Essex with a friend, just to have a bit of fun, and surprisingly I really enjoyed it. My friend got bored and stopped boxing but I kept going - I trained for two years and started competing this year. 

I really love boxing but it can be challenging at times, as I have to go to hospital every three months for intensive physio and IVs and that means that I have to take a break from training. It can take a few weeks to fully recover but I don’t allow it get me down, I get right back to the gym and before I know it I’m ready to compete again. 

In the beginning the coaches didn’t know that I have CF, but I explained it to them and they have been understanding and supportive, which really helps. One day while I was training at the gym I met the boxer Lewis Richardson, he’s a bronze Olympic medallist and he’s one of my biggest inspirations. After meeting him it motivated me to keeping training and compete at nationals. The runner Sophie Grace Holmes also heard about my story from my CF team and she then reached out to me on social media, she shared some tips about training and managing my CF and that helped to keep me focused on my goals too. 

Mallie holding her medal

This year I trained really hard and was selected to compete at the national development championships. It was my first time competing at this level and my family were there for moral support and to cheer me on. I was really nervous when they called out the winners and was so shocked when they announced my name – I couldn’t believe that I had won a title! It is such a huge accomplishment and it felt like all of my hard work and training had paid off. 

My family, CF team, and boxing club are all so proud of me and when I returned to the club with my medal they all clapped and cheered and then we took a group photo. They even arranged for Lewis Richardson to visit the club and we took a photo together with our medals. Winning the title has pushed me to go for my dreams - I want to go all the way to the Olympics and win a medal there too and I think that I might be the first female boxer with CF to stand on the podium one day!

I want my story to encourage children that are living with CF, it has been challenging at times but when I get knocked down I get back up. I want other children to know that there is still a bright future with CF, you just have to work hard and be determined and you can achieve anything. Don’t allow CF to stop you from going after your dreams!

If you would like more information about how the Trust supports young people, you can take a look at our resources here. 


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