When Judy Turner, who lives in Ross-on-Wye, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she was ‘terrified about eventually ending up in a wheelchair’. But the 65-year-old has fought back and aced her fears by taking up an unusual sport – wheelchair tennis.

Judy, who is a former nurse, does not require a wheelchair yet and can still climb the stairs in her home, albeit at a slow pace. However, knowing a wheelchair will become part of her life sooner or later, she wanted to get a head start by getting used it - but in a fun way.

Inspired by watching Great Britain’s Wheelchair Tennis Men’s Singles gold medallist Gordon Reid on television at Brazil’s Paralympic Games last summer, Judy decided she wanted to try and smash it herself.

With no previous tennis experience, and further handicapped by the loss of one eye from a white water rafting accident eight years ago, Judy is certainly a determined and inspirational individual. And she is now regularly serving up a treat at Spytty Park in Newport, which stages wheelchair tennis – an hour’s drive from her home.

She explained: “Able-bodied people cannot play wheelchair tennis but people with MS who have compromised mobility are allowed to play. I can walk slowly but would not be able to run to the net to hit the ball.

“Wheelchair tennis is very fast and very competitive because the wheelchairs themselves are so advanced. The only difference is the ball is allowed to bounce twice – other than that the sport is exactly the same as normal tennis. It’s even more difficult for me as I only have one eye so sometimes I miss hitting the ball back by inches!

“I was terrified about being in a wheelchair when I found out about my MS, but wheelchair tennis has made me look at it differently. Because it’s a sport, you don’t feel disabled or like an old lady stuck in a wheelchair. It’s helping me to prepare for the time when I might need a wheelchair myself.

“I’ve only been playing for a couple of months and I haven’t won any games yet but I’m very determined. You’ve got to be haven’t you!”

As someone who clearly likes to plan ahead – Judy has also made changes to her three-bedroomed barn conversion home in Ross-on-Wye by widening doors and installing a Stiltz Trio home lift.

She only moved to the property three years ago and was not keen on moving to a bungalow. Judy added: “I’ve had the doorways widened and decided I needed to find some way of getting upstairs when I do finally get to the point when I need a wheelchair. Some way in which I can continue to use all of my home which I love.