Born Lucky My Life

Crazy.

Amazing. Bonkers.

I'm Joanne.

I'm part of a very exclusive club.

There are only seven people like me on the planet.

I am in demand all over the world.

Everybody, Joanne O'Riordan.

I've been on TV more times than I can remember.

I've met Westlife AND One Direction.

I'm a teenage girl!

My motto in life is that if you want something...

you've got to go and get it.

So what makes me so special?

Is it my easygoing charm?

I hate being told what to do. I'm an independent woman.

Or my sense of humour?

Or was I just born lucky?

My name is Joanne O'Riordan. I'm 17.

I was born with total amelia.

That's Greek for no limbs.

It's a really rare condition.

On top of that, I slouch!

So doctors have put a titanium rod that runs up my spine.

Other than that, I'm a normal teenage girl.

I love fashion...

Thank God I don't have feet - I'd cost my dad a fortune!

..sports...

..music...

# She can't sing She can't dance... #

..and my dog Sally.

Ah! She bit my bum!

I live in Ireland with Anne. That's what I call my mum.

Yeah, I love calling her Anne. She doesn't respond otherwise.

And my dad Joe.

Guess how they came up with my name?

Joe and Anne. Joanne. Geddit?

Genius.

And at the moment, my older brother Steven is here.

Steven's my fashion advisor. He thinks he's Gok Wan.

Action!

And for the last couple of months,

I've been followed by Mark from the BBC.

I've always made the most of what I've got,

with what I like to call my little arm.

This is the joy stick to drive my chair.

I can get around...

..feed myself...

This takes skill.

..clean my teeth...

..walk the dog.

I use my phone for texting...

I have muscle pains at the top of my lip if I text too much,

it gets tired.

..and games.

I've even worked out a class way to work my laptop - fairly cool.

One time, we did one of those, like, tests at school

and I typed 36 words per minute. I think.

From a very early age, Joanne was very independent.

The word no never came into Joanne's vocabulary.

She was like, "I'm here, I want to do what you're doing,

"I want to be the same as everybody else.

"I might be doing it in a completely different way,

"but I'm actually able to do it."

Do you want to see One Direction's tour bus?

It's nicer than the house.

Look, there's me!

I've always been encouraged to be independent and I never give up.

Steven's been filming me since I was a baby.

I tried legs...

..and arms,

but I never really got on with them.

Frankly, when you've got no limbs, everything's a challenge

and there are just some things that I can't do by myself.

This is how I clean my eye.

Simple stuff like itching...

Thanks, great.

..washing...

I can't see!

..dressing...

..and, er, other stuff too.

I have to go to the bathroom.

-Are you serious?

-Yes.

And no! You can't come with me!

There's nothing straightforward about my life, but is anyone's?

MUSIC: "Kiss You" by One Direction

# We can go out any day any night

# I'll take you there... #

I say think positive!

You'll get a whole lot more out of life than if you just mope around.

This is my bedroom...

Awkward.

Because being born this way does have its advantages.

Photos over here. The best one is the One Direction one.

-Me and my friend Murin, we met One Direction.

-Have you a favourite?

Uh, I like them all.

You can't really have a favourite.

They're individuals.

They're not dogs, you don't have a favourite.

Like, Niall is Irish so he's savage straightaway.

Harry is ridiculously good looking.

Louis is hilarious. Zane is ridiculously good looking

and Liam seems really nice. So they're all just perfect!

I'm a teenage girl!

# ..And let me kiss you... #

And teenage girls have to go to school, no special treatment for me.

Booo!

Is this your school uniform?

This is only part of it. I just wear the T-shirt bit.

Well, I go as close as possible.

So this is the wine jacket,

I'm wearing grey pants and a blue shirt underneath.

Time for you to meet my friends.

I've been going to school with this lot since I was three.

Oh, no! Here's when they're going to talk about me.

Don't say anything embarrassing, please!

There's always a laugh. There's never a dull moment with Joanne.

She's actually crazy.

She doesn't care what anyone else thinks. She'll speak her mind.

You don't know what's next with Joanne.

She's capable of doing anything.

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

I've known her since about four or five,

we've been friends for ages now and she's a really good friend, like.

I don't view her as any different to any of my other friends or anything.

#LAUGHTER!

Could you wait for me, like? Friendship, true friend right there.

So x minus 4 is guaranteed to be a factor. You divide it in...

Maths is my worst subject.

But at least with a film crew,

you get to see your teacher squirm in front of the camera.

#awkward for him!

The curve looks right.

At the end of the day, my chauffeur arrives to pick me up.

Here she comes now. Beep beep!

I guess it must be harder for my mum than I sometimes realise.

There's days that I'd love to see

Joanne being able to run up them steps or run down them steps

in the morning going into school,

but that will never happen I suppose.

At school, I feel pretty much the same as everyone else.

-What's for dinner?

-What do you want?

-Food!

But not everyone sees it that way.

Especially when I go out of my town.

# When I walk in a spot

# This is what I see

# Everybody stops and they staring at me... #

Hi! Hi, how are ya? Hi!

There are only seven people in the world like me,

so I'm pretty easy to spot.

In fact, I'm a bit of a local celebrity!

Thanks very much!

It depends on the person really.

If they're a young person, they'll just talk to you for ages

about how great you are, which is hilarious.

And if they're, like, kind of, middle-aged and kind of old,

then they'll just tell you you're a real inspiration and all that.

My friends think it's hilarious, so you know...

-Hi.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.

I'm so going to have like proper fans when I'm older.

Like, die hard fans. Like, One Direction fans.

I want to have them all, like, crowding streets,

shutting down the place and everything.

Like, I want to hear on the news, "Joanne O'Riordan shuts down Dublin."

I've appeared on telly quite a few times...

Tonight, I'm the guest of honour

at a dinner for the local girls' football team.

There's a really hot guy going -

Aidan Walsh, a famous Irish footballer.

He'll be handing out the prizes so I've got to look good.

#no pressure!

I don't really follow fashion that much, like.

I'm into tracksuits and all that jazz.

Casual...but I kinda have to dress up for tonight.

Like, I go round the shop once and then I see what I like.

Then I go back around and pick it up and see if there's any extra bits,

then I leave the shop!

I don't try things on, I always wait until I get home.

I don't believe in trying things on, I'm just like, "Ah, it looks fine."

Yeah, this is nice, yeah. Success!

Thank God I don't have feet, I'd cost my dad a fortune!

I'm obsessed with shoes, I don't know why. Oh, well...

When you've got no limbs, putting on your make-up is a bit tricky.

So I rope in local beautician Katrina to put my face on.

Well, I'm a girl and I always have to look good.

-Isn't it nice? It's Rihanna.

-Is that Rihanna?

-Yeah, it's really nice.

When I'm actually going out - out, as in to social events -

-I always do myself up.

-It's nice to look nice.

Yeah, it's a girly thing.

Being in a wheelchair can be a bit of a faff for me,

which means I don't get to go out as much as my friends.

I'd love to be able to, like, go out with, like, everyone.

I have to, like, ask already in advance, maybe a week in advance,

"Can I go out?" Just to make sure everything's in place.

Like, I'd love to just get up and just go out.

-OK?

-Yep, perfect!

My parents really support me.

They often come with me when I go out.

But it would be nice to go just with my friends a bit more.

Go away, Mum!

Tonight's so special. Here's Aidan, isn't he hot?!

And thanks very much for inviting me here.

It was a great honour to be asked to Drumtariffe.

CHEERING

I'm going to start because Aidan will punch me.

As you can tell, I love talking.

Last year, I was invited to New York

to give a speech about disability to the United Nations.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Joanne O'Riordan and being invited

to New York the week of my 16th birthday is simply unbelievable.

I was well nervous in New York,

but tonight I'm even more nervous.

There's Aidan! He's next to me! Is it a kiss?!

CHEERING

Thanks very much, thanks.

Mark, you got that?

It's all good fun, but sometimes I wish I could play football too.

I love sport.

I suppose I do wish I was playing football, but in the end,

like, every team that I follow really kinda gets me involved,

so that's kinda nice in the end, so.

I suppose I'm always kind of involved,

regardless, off the field or on the field.

It's not as if I'm going to kick a football any time soon,

but there is one sport that requires a skill that I'm really good at -

sitting down!

The British Olympic bobsleigh team

want to get their sport into the Paralympics

and they've asked me to be the guinea pig,

which is great, because I love going fast.

They don't practise in the snow,

they train on a special track in Bath in south-west England.

And Piers Martin runs the team.

I'm told that you love all of the speed

so I reckon you're going to be fine with all this.

Bobsleigh's not for everybody. Some people look at it and think,

"I'm really excited about doing it."

And then they get in and as they start to pick up the speed,

they get scared about it. Now I'm counting on you not to be like this.

I'm told that you love doing all these kind of things.

Do you ever, like, go over the sides or...?

No, because you're sliding around,

sometimes the bobsleigh can flip over. But what we're on is,

we're on a training sled which is going down on rails.

Oh, look! More muscly men!

The plan is to start on the training sled

and, if I keep my nerve - I hope -

then I'll get a chance to race with the actual Olympic team.

Am I the only person with no limbs that's ever done it?

Yes, this is a first. Well, as far as I know, yes.

And the best thing about it is

we're trying to get adaptive bobsleigh into the Paralympic Games.

So this could be the start of something.

If this all works and we can get it in the Paralympic Games,

you could be one of our Paralympic athletes.

So this could be the start of an even better journey.

If this helps the campaign to get bobsleigh to the Paralympics, I'm in!

Who wouldn't want an Olympic medal?

But I think my family are a bit worried about it.

It'll be like Fast And Furious in a bobsleigh.

-Yeah, and?

-And what?

-What do you think?

-Yeah, I think it would be cool.

I'm not allowed on roller coasters because I'm too small,

so I might as well go on a bobsleigh!

-What if you fall over like in Cool Runnings?

-I'm crippled for life!

LAUGHTER

What did you say?

I said, I'm crippled for life!

My family are great. They're really protective of me.

And let's face it,

I've had to depend on them a lot and that's what made us closer.

With their help, I've fought to make my life like anyone else's.

But I'm 17 now and I can't live with them for ever.

I mean, I love going to concerts

but I've never been to one of them without a member of my family.

So I plan to change all that.

I'm off to an amazing gig in Dublin with my friend Eleanor.

My brother's helped me to prepare.

Steven, open the wardrobe.

We did get a really nice top for her in New York.

He had to ask someone my size and we asked this random woman

and he just picked me up out of the chair

and he was like, "What size is she?"

Look at all her jerseys! She's obsessed with football.

-Jerseys.

-Look.

-No, there's more!

-Cork...

That's New York. That's Down.

That's Barcelona. That's Dublin.

That's Cork. That's signed!

There's more in here.

That's New York Yankees, that's Cork,

that's Barcelona, that's Portugal.

Are you a huge football fan?

Yeah, this is AC Milan.

This is an old Brazilian...

This is a compulsive disorder!

Anyway, we're all packed and ready for our big night out.

My mother's dropping us off at the station. Here we come now!

We're going to the train station

because we're going to Dublin to see Rihanna. Whoop, whoop!

I like to see Joanne growing up and becoming independent.

I suppose it's like all our children -

the first time you let go, like, is the hardest.

This is us now going on the train.

But for Joanne, I'm happy.

Let's get mentally prepared.

Bye! Love you, Anne, bye!

When we've been to concerts in the past, we've met loads of celebrities.

We have met Jedward. Eleanor has met Olly Murs like, four times.

-Is it four?

-Three.

-Three times.

I thought it was four, awkward, never mind.

I've met One Direction, I've met Westlife,

-I've met Bono, which Eleanor is very jealous of, aren't ya?

-Totally.

Oh, Bono! But you're more professional than I am about it.

I ask. I find contact details and I ask them

and I make the whole "I'm in a wheelchair" plea.

The sob story. It works.

In case you're hoping

that this will be a great meeting between me and my favourite pop star,

I did ask, but Rihanna said no. Boo!

But I do get to meet some of my own fans.

This is what it'll be like when I'm famous.

Thanks very much, bye! Mark, did you pay them?

-And they're actually your own age!

-I haven't seen that before.

What age is your fan base normally?

82.

Or 12.

There's a range.

-There's no in-between.

-Yeah, there's no in-between!

That's a rare moment.

# She can't sing

# She can't dance

# But who cares She walks like Rihanna

# She can't sing, she can't dance

# But who cares... #

There are some downsides for me being in a wheelchair.

# ..Have you seen that girl Have you seen her... #

Big crowds are a pain.

At my level, you're just staring at endless backsides.

Move! Move out of my way!

At least I get my own special entrance

and it's all worth it in the end.

MUSIC: "Umbrella" by Rihanna

# I'll be here for ever

# I'll always be your friend

# Took an oath I'ma stick it out till the end

# Now it's raining more than ever... #

I don't think Eleanor is going to win any prizes as a camera person,

especially since we're miles away from Rihanna, but this is great!

# ..Under my umbrella

# Ella, ella, ella... #

It probably was the best night of my life.

Everything just went off, like, perfect like.

The atmosphere was just incredible.

You couldn't even just sit down, you just had to get up and go dancing.

Yeah, I suppose I felt like I gained a bit more independence.

Eleanor went, I think, as well

for one of the first times without her mum.

It was pretty outrageous for the both of us like, it was just so cool.

BIRDS SINGING

It's safe to say that I'm not a morning person.

Especially when I've had a late night.

Get out of my face then, you're annoying me. Go away!

You're so difficult.

Morning, Joanne. What's the plan of action for today?

I've no idea. I'm just up.

What's your usual routine in the morning?

I just sit here and don't talk to anyone and eat.

Well, I eat very slowly, so...

We've got a busy couple of days ahead.

The time has come to fly to England for my big bobsleigh adventure.

My family are sports mad and there's no way they'll want to miss this.

Team O'Riordan are about to meet Team GB.

# The sun goes down The stars come out...

# And all that counts is here and now

# My universe will never be the same

# I'm glad you came

# I'm glad you came Woah-oh-oh... #

We're heading to Bath

to the headquarters of the British Olympic bobsleigh team

to help them with their campaign for the Paralympics.

It's the first test run of the day

and Lee, the head coach, sets them off. Go, team, go!

These are actually the guys

who will represent Great Britain in the Olympics.

Oooooohhhh!

This is where the team practise their starts.

The bungee cord stops them from running off the end of the track -

that would be awkward.

Final safety check!

And time for my mother to chillax.

Calm down, Anne.

I'm nervous, to be honest. But, um, I'll get over it, so I will.

It's time to meet the team!

My name's Jacko, I'm the driver.

-Hi, Jacko.

-This is Stu.

-Hi! How are you doing?

-Hi, Stu. I love the way he walked up.

-Yeah, stumbling!

-He sits behind me.

-Then you've got big Bruce.

-Hello!

-Hi, Bruce. I was looking at your muscles.

-Oh, thank you!

And then you've got Joel, he's at the back of the sled.

Hi, you're the smallest.

Yeah, I'm the little one, I have to get in and tuck in behind them all.

-You're the cute one!

-Thank you!

Now these boys, they are world-class sprinters.

They'll push the sled to nearly 40km per hour

before they jump in.

I hope they're not expecting me to do all that pushing and running.

I like their little routine.

Right, so what we're going to do is we're going to progress to that

but, firstly, we're going to go in this -

our single-man training trolley.

It's not all for my benefit.

We're here to test whether this could work as a Paralympic sport.

The progression is to try and get adapted bobsleigh

and as we know, we've got...

There's many, many servicemen have lost limbs

and who are able to do adapted bobsleigh.

And the progression from this is to show that,

if we can get Joanne in a sled and get down,

even though we're on a push track, then,

obviously you're almost the extreme,

then going from the extreme,

we can work back and hopefully get teams into the adapted games.

Time to get the training sled into position.

These guys are seriously quick.

The fastest we've travelled in a real bobsleigh in the four-man

on a track in Canada was 155km an hour

which is about 92mph.

At the very bottom of the track,

that's when you've built up all your speed.

No backing out now.

-Oh, he did do it better.

-Does that feel OK?

-It feels good.

-Good.

-You happy there?

-I'm quite nervous.

Wooh! # Joanne's got a bobsleigh team. #

You need to count us in, Joanne.

Maybe I'll say three and then we'll all go?

Are you saying three or tree?

I say tree, like as in a tree in the back yard.

But counting isn't one, two, tree.

Shrub...bush...tree...

Aaagh!

Just when I think it's all over...

..hit the rewind button.

You enjoyed it?

I love it! That's gas!

And that was a slow one!

You know, all I can hear is you screaming.

Aaaaahhhh! I'm a girl at the end of the day.

Cushion.

Now it's time for the real test.

The proper bobsleigh with all four guys pushing,

just like in the Olympics.

This is going to be fast.

The more people in the sled, the faster it goes.

#exciting times.

It was really good! It was really, like, fast and it was really fun.

The bungee part was probably the best part

because you think you're going to just crash into that

and come to a sudden stop, but then you're launched back up the hill.

Oh, yeah, I think she's lovely, lovely! She's a bit gobby, like.

She's a very inspirational young lady, definitely.

As the lads said, she's very gobby. She holds her own.

Um, she was a good laugh, very good and got stuck in.

# I'm on top of the world

# I'm on top of the world... #

I think that she will remember this for the rest of her life.

# ..I'm on top of the world... #

Yeah, I suppose at 92mph, barring my mother driving,

that's probably the fastest I've ever been.

My mother always gets over emotional at times like this.

Joanne was born on the Wednesday morning

and I can still see myself standing at the side of the bed,

looking down at Joanne thinking, "What will you ever do?"

So, I mean, this is a big achievement.

For me, it's much simpler. What's next?

I'd love to definitely try it on an icy hill and go from side to side.

I'd love to do it like that. Maybe we'll crash the Olympics next year?!

I've always known that you've got to make the best of life.

If you're determined and you have a wonderful family

and friends to support you, anything's possible.

Especially if you're like me - born lucky.