\n<\/p>\n
Medals of all different colours at world, European and Commonwealth level have all followed, but those trinkets are only part of Seonaid’s remarkable story.<\/p>\n
Throughout her ascent to the top of her sport, she has dealt with arthritis and Crohn’s disease and admitted last year in an interview with BBC Sport to struggling with her mental health during the Covid lockdowns.<\/p>\n
“She has never given in to any of it,” Donald says. “She got arthritis in her knees and spent a lot of her last year at school on crutches as the doctors tried to work out what was going on.<\/p>\n
“There was talk of juvenile arthritis, which would clear up, but it didn’t work out like that so she spent the next two or three years trying to shoot internationally while having a really rough time with it because she kept having flare ups.<\/p>\n
“She’s also got what is probably Crohn\u2019s disease, which comes and goes and hospitalised her in Egypt at the World Championships in 2022, and some other bits and pieces so she is in pain a lot of the time.<\/p>\n
“That is pretty much her daily life and these things tend to just come and go for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n
“It’s hard to remain positive sometimes when these things are beating you up, but she has learned to grit her teeth and move forward.”<\/p>\n
Nobody has more admiration for Seonaid than Jen.<\/p>\n
She knows how difficult competing at the top level of the sport is, even without the health problems that have beset her wee sister.<\/p>\n
“It was really difficult for a long time because there was a lot of uncertainty before she got the diagnosis,” said Jen. “But as soon as she did get it, she was like, ‘well, this is what I have got and I am going to deal with it’.<\/p>\n
“In many ways, she continues almost in spite of it, because she doesn\u2019t want to let it hold her back and that is quite incredible to watch.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n