Hello, my name is Barbara Kaye.
My husband died in a car crash 5 years ago and so I am a single parent to my two children, Annie and Ryan. Annie has just been diagnosed with Friedreich's Ataxia, a genetic disorder inherited from me and her father. I feel so guilty- I wanted to give my children everything and instead I have given my daughter and perhaps also my son, this terrible disorder. I gave them life, but I may have also sentenced them to an early death.
There's nothing I can do to protect them now, but I can help Ryan fight to find out whether or not he has Friedreich's ataxia too. I'm no stranger to fighting for what I believe in: when I was 13, I took the FA to court over sexism in football. I narrowly lost on that occasion, but this time I won't.
I hope that in the future, parents will be able to save their children from this type of disorder -believe me, if I could, I would.