Inspirational athlete

Athlete Valérie Hirschfield has a packed agenda for 2019, taking part in several charity sporting events, despite losing her left leg to a staphylococcus infection 13 years ago.

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The 54-year-old from La-Seyne-sur-Mer who grew up in south Africa plans to take part in charity Tower Runs (running up the steps of all floors) at the Eiffel Tower and La Défense.

In 2018, she took part in a similar event in Marseille, and in September she climbed 60 storeys of Paris’s Tour Montparnasse.

Valérie also plays tennis, surfs and competes in a range of other sports. She took part in a ‘No Finish Line’ charity walk / run in Monaco in November, where entrants are sponsored for each kilometre they complete of a circuit that is open for eight days, day and night. She said: “I meet too many people who have a handicap and say they can’t do anything. I want to show them they can. It is an effort but that’s true of all sport.”

See also facebook.com/val.hirschfield