Last summer, when Mary Laver carried the Olympic torch along Newcastle’s New Bridge Street buoyed up by the cheers and applause of the crowds lining the route, it was as a British hero.
The former RAF servicewoman has rheumatoid arthritis so severe that she cannot walk or use her hands.
But in 2009, Mary’s journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats in her electric wheelchair – to raise money for The Royal British Legion – made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Last year, she was even one of the Games Makers who made London 2012 the People’s Olympics – camping with her carers and a battery-powered hoist to lower her on to a stretcher where she slept each night.
Today, sitting in that same wheelchair in the conservatory of her home in a suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, instead of thinking up new, positive challenges, Mary is contemplating a hunger strike.
“I’m not sure what else to do,” the 65-year-old says.
“I am thinking about begging David Cameron to stop and think about what he’s doing. I’ve never begged for anything in my life.”
Her voice shakes as she considers a third option.
“I’ve heard of disabled people talking about going to Switzerland to end it all,” she says, quietly.
“Because with the cuts, they fear their lives won’t be worth living any more.”
