[2] Diagnosed with aniridia, a condition affecting the iris, at six months old, she spent extended periods in hospital and lost her sight in childhood.
[2] At seven she became a weekly boarder at a Catholic school for blind and partially sighted children, and later studied at Teesside University, where she became involved in student politics.
Until February 2014, she was programme head at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, responsible for health and local government.
She is an active member of the Greater London Association of Disabled People and former president of the National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom.
[6] She gave an interview to Pink News in December 2014 in which she spoke about her transgender experience and her campaigning for disabled people and the value and the importance of the NHS.