Dressage Paralympian who won bronze at Paris 2024 survived sepsis so many times she got used to facing death

A dressage Paralympian who won bronze in Paris 2024 has revealed she regularly believed she “was going to die” before the competition as she fought life-threatening sepsis four times in two years.

Mari Durward-Akhurst, 31, who lives in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, was born with cerebral palsy and discovered her passion for horse riding at the age of three.

Mari rose through the ranks to represent Great Britain in dressage in international competitions, despite becoming a full-time wheelchair user in 2019 because of a neurological disorder so rare it is believed to be unique to Mari in the UK.

Throughout 2023 and 2024 she had life-threatening sepsis four times which disrupted her training and left her living in constant worry of another infection.

One of the worst instances was in summer 2023, when she had urosepsis, a life-threatening infection caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream from a UTI, which made her speech slurred and her feel nauseous and shaky.

But, despite her continued medical trauma, she continued to train as much as possible and was selected for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – where she “remarkably” finished sixth individually and earned a bronze medal in the Grade 1 freestyle.

Mari told PA Real Life: “I had the worry about getting sepsis the entire way leading up to Paris, and my home team and British Equestrian World Class Programme team of sports science practitioners around me, who are funded by UK Sport and The National Lottery, were absolutely fantastic.

“We had a plan in place … so it put my mind at ease that everything would be OK.

“Once I was there, I could just concentrate on my performance but having that medal, considering everything I’d gone through to get there, made it even more remarkable.

“When I’ve had sepsis I thought I was going to die and I’m almost used to that feeling – it’s not as scary now but I was terrified at the beginning.”

Mari was born with cerebral palsy and attended a mainstream school, which she found challenging.

“I used to get bullied quite a lot as I was different to the other children – I wasn’t in a wheelchair then so they didn’t understand why I got to miss PE and stuff,” she explained.

Despite these challenges, one constant always brought her comfort – horses.

At just three years old, Mari began horse riding as her physiotherapist believed it could be a beneficial therapy.

As her core strength improved, she progressed to dressage.

In 2005, aged 11, she won her first RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) competition and qualified for the RDA National Championships the following year.

By 2007, she was selected for the Hertfordshire Elite Athlete Support Programme and represented Great Britain at a junior international.

However, at 18, her condition worsened, and she began to struggle with mobility.

In 2019, aged 25, she was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder affecting all four limbs.

“The condition doesn’t actually have a name because the gene is so rare – there’s not thought to be anybody else in the UK with the same gene duplication,” she said.

That same year, Mari became a full-time wheelchair user and she adapted her dressage techniques to suit her needs.

She said: “I can’t use my legs at all, so I have two whips that act as my legs through very light taps on the horse’s side.

“I use my seat, and my horses also respond to my voice.

“I struggle with grip, so someone hands me the reins once I am in the saddle.”

During the pandemic, she trained as much as possible with hopes of reaching the Paralympics.

But in summer 2023, Mari began feeling “really shaky”, “completely out of it”, and nauseous, to the point where she couldn’t sit up in her wheelchair and her speech became slurred.

It turned out she had urosepsis, a life-threatening infection.

It took months to recover, and she was disappointed to slow her training.

In October 2023, while visiting her sister in America, she developed another kidney-related sepsis episode.

She was treated with IV antibiotics and felt better within days, but training had to be paused again.

She said: “I was frustrated but was relieved I was on the mend.”

After recovering, she said she felt the best she had in a long time – until March 2024, when sepsis struck again.

“I just felt really dizzy, and I couldn’t put together a sentence … I was really, really shaking,” she recalled.

“It was traumatic, so I gave myself time to recover and didn’t rush back to training. I was frustrated and worried it would keep happening.”

Mari missed squad training and a media day with Channel 4 in preparation for the Paralympics.

“That was really hard – I thought my chances of Paris were over,” she said.

But after recovering, she competed in Belgium, winning multiple events.

In July, she was selected to compete in Paris as one of four para equestrian athletes representing Paralympics GB.

“It was absolutely incredible. When we went to the venue at Chateau de Versailles, I had to pinch myself,” Mari added.

“Once I’d ridden my test on the first day, I was like ‘I’m a Paralympian now and no one can ever take that away’.”

She finished sixth in the individual dressage and won a bronze in freestyle.

She said: “I was crying, it was completely unexpected. We didn’t think I’d medal, so it was even more special.”

Mari experienced sepsis again in December 2024 with doctors again suspecting a kidney infection.

“I got back to training quickly, but I don’t feel like I’m back to where I was pre-August 2023,” she said.

She credits support from the UK Sepsis Trust and a nurse named Emma who helped her.

Her new urologist has also introduced a low sepsis threshold letter to streamline future hospital visits.

Looking ahead, Mari said: “In September, it’s the FEI Para Dressage European Championships – the aim is to get selected for those”.

“The long-term goal is LA 2028.

“I’d really like to win a gold medal there. That would be the icing on the cake.”