Contents

• Early Life
• Life as a Paralympic athlete
• After the Paralympic Games

Early Life

Phylliss was born in Harrow on 13 August 1937. She grew up alongside her sister Jean, born four years later.

She was a keen sportswoman and in her early adult life, fenced for Middlesex County.

In early 1959, Phylliss awoke unable to move or feel her legs after a spinal abscess had burst. Aged 21, she became a permanent wheelchair user and doctors advised that she was unlikely to live beyond 40. She would defy the doctors expectations for a further 48 years.

She was discharged from a hospital in Harrow, to Stoke Mandeville in 1960. Here she joined several sports clubs, competing in archery and swimming, and made a successful comeback to fencing.

At Stoke Mandeville she also used her life experiences to carry out voluntary work which involved helping, supporting and advising patients in need.

Life as a Paralympic Athlete

Phylliss competed at five Paralympic Games; Rome 1960, Heidelberg 1972, Toronto 1976, Arnhem 1980 and Stoke Mandeville in 1984.

In September 1960, Phylliss was selected to represent Great Britain, in fencing and swimming, at the Rome 1960 Paralympics Games.

The Harrow Observer reported:

Her indomitable spirit has won her a place among the wheelchair athletes to represent Great Britain at the international games for the paralysed to be held in Rome.

On the final day of the Games, she took third place and an individual bronze medal in the Women’s 50m backstroke I/3, finishing behind Austria’s Ilse Scharf and Germany’s Marlene Muhlendyck. There were 4 athletes competing. Britain finished second in the medal table overall, behind Italy and ahead of the United States.

Phylliss went on to compete in fencing at four further Paralympic Games. She won a bronze medal in the team foil in Heidelberg in 1972 alongside Sally Haynes and Janet Swann. Great Britain took the bronze again in Toronto in 1976 with great performances from Valerie Robertson, Janet Swann, Phylliss and Irene Nowak.

She also competed in fencing at the Arnhem 1980 Paralympic Games and at the Stoke Mandeville 1984 Games.

 

After the Paralympic Games

Phylliss also competed in the Commonwealth Games and in 1966 was among the athletes representing Great Britain in Fencing in Jamaica. Following her return to Wolverhampton, she also campaigned for better access to coaching for wheelchair athletes in field events.

Phylliss was employed as a supervisor of a team of typists, at Boulton & Paul, a manufacturer of aircraft equipment.

During 1986 she joined a narrowboat charity, as a temporary booking clerk, before remaining with them for 27 years.

Phylliss enjoyed crafting, quilt making and cross stitch and went on to teach Pergamano. She also had a gift for crafting handmade greetings cards which she would send to friends and family.

Phylliss sadly passed away on 20 September 2025, aged 88.

She is remembered by her loved ones as a determined, inspirational lady, who was kind and strong, and who defined her life with courage, dignity and an unshakeable zest for living.

References:

• https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2021/07/01/the-birth-of-the-paralympic-games/
• https://www.paralympicheritage.org.uk/wheelchair-fencing
• https://www.paralympic.org/p-waller
• Brittain, I.S. (2012) From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games. Champaign, Illinois: Common Ground Publishing. Pages 61 (1960), 63 (1960), 110 (1972), 113 (1972), 128 (1976), 130 (1976), 146 (1980), 193 (1984)
• Wolverhampton Express & Star, Thursday 27 October 1966, Page 41