A disabled woman with a degenerative disease has become the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around Britain.
Especially in the wake of Gatefail and its associated assumptions and attitudes about and towards disability, I find
this news story - on my front page when I logged in tonight - truly inspirational and hopeful.
To me it proves that as long as a body houses a brain and a will, you cannot discount it as "useless".
This second story descibes how limited Hilary Lister is and how she used her mouth and adapted controls to steer her boat.
It's an awe-inspiring achievement.
Again and again I find stories of what disabled people can and do achieve shaming me when I let my own disability and health problems be any kind of excuse. When things take extra effort, it's all too easy not to bother, not to fight or persevere. Then I read something like this and realise that I cannot let myself be deterred because things get hard.
Go Hilary! :D