Meet Izzy

15-year-old Izzy is a talented competitive swimmer, and finds peace in the water. “When I’m in the pool, my whole mind goes quiet. It’s where I find my peace,” she says.

When she was a child, she was diagnosed with a condition called Peutz Jeghers Syndrome, which means her body grows polyp tumours which have to be removed every few years.

“I learned to live with my diagnosis. But in April 2024, after one of my polypectomies, I experienced serious complications which left me in the intensive care unit,” explains Izzy.

The whole experience was scary for her. “Because of my swimming I usually felt really in tune with my body, and all of a sudden it felt like my body was fighting against me,“ she says.

“My confidence in the pool was completely knocked. For me, swimming is as much about the mental game as the physical. I have to believe I can hold my breath properly, and do the strokes the right way. Usually I could train for two hours at a time, five times a week, but post-op I could barely do 20 minutes and was struggling with school,” says Izzy.

Why Izzy chose the wish

Izzy found herself falling out of love with swimming after her ICU stay. “All my belief in myself seemed to have left me. All I could think about was the fact my Peutz Jeghers Syndrome meant I’d probably be dealing with setbacks like these again and again,“ she says.

Around this time, her family got in touch with Rays of Sunshine. Izzy says she wanted to try and use her wish to rediscover her passion for the sport.

“My swimming hero is Adam Peaty, the three-time Team GB Olympic Champion, and I thought I was pushing my luck a little bit to ask if I could meet him as my wish,” she explains.

On the day

On the day of the wish, Izzy and her mum travelled to Repton Swimming Club – one of Adam’s local pools.

“He was instantly so friendly and put me at ease,” says Izzy. “We made our way to the pool, and he asked me the kind of things I might want any pointers on. He spent time with me going over everything, and teaching me all the tips and tricks he had. We covered my breaststroke mainly, but also worked on things like breathing techniques and diving.”

“As he was coaching me, I could feel myself getting my love for swimming back,” she adds. “I had one of the best swimmers in the world teaching me, and I just felt really inspired and empowered by the whole experience.”

After their swimming session, Adam and Izzy sat down for a Q&A.

Izzy says: “One of the reasons I always felt like I resonated with Adam was because of how upfront and honest he’s been about his own mental health struggles. We chatted about this a bit, and it was really reassuring and comforting to know he’d had his dark times and still come out the other side of it.”

The impact of the wish

Reflecting on her wish, Izzy says: “I came away from my wish with a whole new feeling of confidence in myself and my journey. I’d been so close to just giving up on swimming because of how down about it I was. Meeting Adam changed all of that.”

In the time since her wish, Izzy has regained a lot of her strength, and says she uses the tips Adam offered her every time she’s in the water.

“My wish helped me fall back in love with swimming and that confidence has spilled out into other parts of my life too, which is helpful as this year I focus on my GCSEs. I couldn’t be more grateful for my Rays of Sunshine wish.”