Two decades after losing her legs in a train accident, a dance fan is hitting the floor again thanks to the BBC TV series, “Dancing on Wheels”.
Diana Morgan-Hill, 49, who lives in Barnes, slipped under a train as it pulled away from Wandsworth Common Station 20 years ago.
The former PR consultant thought she would never dance again - until she began training in her wheel chair with Strictly Come Dancing star Brian Fortuna last month.
She said: “To be lucky enough to be alive and to be dancing again is fantastic. I was beautifully made up. It was almost like getting married every week but not having to stick with the partner. It was a complete joy, the whole experience.”
Ms Morgan-Hill, who uses both a wheelchair and prosthetic limbs, is still going through rehabilitation treatment at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton.
On the day of the accident, she was trying to open the door to a train carriage but it pulled away and knocked her down onto the tracks.
At the age of just 29, the former amateur ballet and jazz dancer had to come to terms with never being able to dance again.
But last year, Ms Morgan-Hill discovered wheelchair ballroom dancing and put herself forward for the new BBC show.
Featuring “combi style” dancing, one wheelchair dancer is paired with an able bodied celebrity to perform a new dance routine each week.
Six couples compete against one another for a place at the Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships.
Ms Morgan-Hill was paired up with former Olympic swimmer and “Strictly Come Dancing” star Mark Foster.
She said: “It involves a lot of precision movement. Your wheels are your legs. It’s difficult because with able-bodied dancing, your brain sends a signal to your feet. In a wheelchair, the signal has to go to you hands, which then moves the wheels.”
Diana, who lives with her daughter Lara, 16, has also played in international wheelchair tennis championships and was chief executive of the Limbless Association for two years.
When the series finishes, she hopes to find a new partner and get a dance troupe together, aiming ultimately to perform at the Paralympics.
Read her blog at dianadancingonwheels.blogspot.com or catch the show on BBC Three.
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