Annabelle Nunnery is a competitive Irish dancer who has travelled the world with Michael Flately’s Lord of the Dance.
But a crushing diagnosis of an agonising invisible illness means the 24-year-old is now fighting to finish her dancing career on a high – and it hasn’t been easy.
Despite severe pain caused by her illness, Annabelle, from Liverpool, is determined to take part in the 2020 World Championships – even though she knows it will be her final competition.
‘I have had to train my mind and body to be strong and fight against a condition within me,’ Annabelle tells Metro.co.uk. ‘Invisible illnesses are hard to understand for people on the outside and even more difficult for the sufferer to accept.
‘Being diagnosed with an incurable illness has dramatically altered my life, but my aim is to use the struggles I have faced to help other people and inspire self-belief.
‘I want my pain to mean something and be of value to others.’
Annabelle first started experiencing strange symptoms in 2016. Her feet began to itch at night. It was so intense that it kept her awake and she had to soak her socks in icy water to try to ease the burning. She even tried to sleep with frozen peas on her feet.
Completely unable to sleep, Annabelle was distraught and exhausted. She went to her GP five times to try to get an answer, but her symptoms remained a mystery.
‘I figured out that the pain was worse at rest, so I worked my 12-hour shift as a waitress and during my lunch hour I used to walk around Liverpool as I was afraid to be still,’ she explains.
Things escalated quickly and Annabelle gained other symptoms – her feet went numb, she wasn’t able to hold items properly, she had tingling in her lips and hands, she had an internal tremor and extreme tiredness. She even collapsed.
‘It took an entire year of tests, MRIs, needles, changing consultants and hospitals to finally get a diagnosis.
‘Almost one year to the day of my initial symptoms I was diagnosed with Small Fibre Peripheral Neuropathy (SFPN) – basically incurable nerve damage,’ says Annabelle.
The diagnosis was an enormous blow. Dancing was, and still is, Annabelle’s world.
She has been a competitive Irish dancer since she was six years old. She competed at the World Championships multiple times and got a job with Michael Flately’s Lord of the Dance on the West End and travelling eastern Europe.
After finishing her degree, Annabelle joined a highly competitive dance school in Wolverhampton – where she still attends now. She travels two hours each way, four times a week to go to classes.
‘We train like Olympic athletes,’ she explains. ‘Our classes range from three hours to six hours at a time, with little time for breaks. I have a personal trainer, practice additionally at home and attend an extra stretching session each week to improve my dancing technique and ability.’
Since joining the school, Annabelle has improved her solo ranking to 23rd in the World, she is the current North West Champion and was part of a team that placed 3rd at the World Championships and were North American National champions.
But SFPN has changed everything. Since her diagnosis, Annabelle has had to alter how she trains and dances – she’s physically unable to do the things she used to do.
‘My choreography has been changed dramatically, as I struggle to perform certain moves due to the numbness and lack of feeling in my feet,’ says Annabelle.
‘Some days we joke that my legs “aren’t working”, as I dance so poorly and without control that I am not able to perform. I was forced to not compete at the 2019 World Championships as a new rule stated that dancers in the top 50% had to compete over two days of competition.
‘I have severe fatigue, which means some days I have to take a break to walk up the stairs, and I am unable to dance on two consecutive days.
‘I was quite obviously devastated that this chance to compete in America, on the world stage, was taken away from me – due to no fault of my own.’
The pain of her condition can be incredibly intense. Annabelle wants to work to promote better understand and awareness of invisible illness.
‘Before I was diagnosed, it was hard for my family and friends to understand,’ she says. ‘I could never quite get the language across to explain what I was feeling and the intensity of the pain.
‘A few weeks ago I was splashed walking home with my boyfriend by a bus driving through a puddle and the pain it caused in my feet drove me to tears. I have to grit my teeth to get into the shower, sleep with cold patches on my feet, tremor so much I cannot write – but these are things that people don’t see.’
Annabelle is no stranger to depression. When her local dance school closed in 2015, she was massively impacted by mental health struggles for six months. It was almost impossible to continue training and performing during this period, but her passion drove her to continue.
But in the face of her incredibly debilitating illness, Annabelle says it is the positive influence of the people around her that is keeping her going.
‘Watching my boyfriend and friends compete has spurred me on,’ says Annabelle. ‘I am currently trying to train my body and mind to push through working out and dancing over two days to the best of my ability. If all goes to plan this year, there is a possibility that I will be dancing nine times over two days.’
Irish dancing is Annabelle’s first love. And, no matter how hard it is with her new condition, she’s working to find the strength to adapt and compete to the best of her new ability.
‘I work incredibly hard at my dancing and have sacrificed a lot as a child, teenager and now adult for Irish dancing and the pursuit of success,’ she tells us. ‘I love the challenges it brings, as no dancer is ever perfect, and I am eternally thankful for the friendships I have made because of Irish dancing.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/19/elite-irish-dancer-diagnosed-agonising-incurable-illness-battles-complete-final-competition-12261802/
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