I’m always the only scientist in the room in a wheelchair. It shouldn’t be this way

Eleanor Beidatsch has a passion for palaeontology, but that’s not as strong as her passion to see more people with disability accepted and succeeding in the sciences.

When I look around a room, I don’t often see anybody else like me.

In all the time I’ve been at university I’ve never seen another student in a wheelchair and I’ve seen only a couple with other sorts of disabilities. It can get lonely sometimes.

Living with a disability is challenging, but I’ve always believed in perseverance.

Every day is filled with battles, whether they’re small struggles to get through a daily routine despite the fatigue and pain that plague my body, or larger fights for life-saving equipment or medication.

Whatever the challenge, I believe in pushing ahead…