Coming out on top 'MY BLACK BELT OF COURAGE'

The good sport hasn't let a brain injury hold her back from chasing her dreams

- Steve Landells

Lorraine Bainbridge is a black belt national taekwondo champion who loves nothing more than teaching others about her passion for martial arts.

She's also a brain injury survivor, who almost died after being struck by a swing as a one-year-old. Not breathing after the accident, it was the quick thinking of a nearby off-duty paramedic who resuscitated her.

“I have no memory of it because I was so young,” says Lorraine, 40. “But the year following the accident, I regularly fell to the ground and stopped breathing.

“After a year or so, those incidents stopped, but it was a scary time for my mum.”

For many years, Lorraine struggled to find happiness and a purpose in life. Her brain injury meant conventional learning was challenging. After leaving school, Lorraine started working at a fast-food restaurant, where she struggled to adjust, especially when she felt others were unkind or didn't understand her disability.

With her confidence shattered, Lorraine remembers feeling like she was losing all hope.

That was until she saw a leaflet advertising self-defence classes run by Camille Pruckmuller.

“I wanted to do something where I could improve, make friends and turn my life around,” says Lorraine, explaining her motivation to attend the course based on the Korean martial art of taekwondo.