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Sophie Morgan

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For the author, see Sophie Morgan (author).
Sophie Morgan
Born
Sophia Louise Morgan

(1985-02-24) 24 February 1985 (age 39)
Crowborough, East Sussex
NationalityBritish
Occupationdiverse
Known forreality tv
Websitesophiemorgan.com

Sophie Morgan (born 1985) is a British former reality TV contestant who is currently pursuing a diverse range of careers. Morgan suffered a T4 complete spinal injury in a road traffic accident in 2003, resulting in paralysis from the chest down.

Early life

Morgan was born near Crowborough,[citation needed] East Sussex, in 1985. She was educated at Cumnor House School, South Croydon, and at Gordonstoun school in Moray, Scotland.[1][2] Her father, John, is a retired wine trader and her mother, Carol, was variously a nurse, gun dog trainer and air stewardess.

In 2003, Morgan crashed her car whilst driving and was paralysed from the chest down. Describing the accident, she said that she had been the nominated driver and was sober: "Her friends were way over the limit but she’d only had a glass of champagne".

Prior to the accident, Morgan had planned to study Law at the University of Manchester. Having returned to live with her parents in Brighton, she instead opted to study Art at the University of Brighton and from 2008-2010 began a Fine Arts degree at Goldsmiths, University of London,[3][4] then studied art therapy.[5]

Career

Reality TV contestant

Morgan was a Reality TV show contestant - being one of the few people to appear in two different Reality TV shows about disability. Carolyne Underwood, who appeared in 2010 in Dancing on Wheels and in 2012 on The Undateables (2012), is the other disabled woman who has appeared in two reality shows.

In 2005, 18 months after becoming a parapalegic, Morgan took part in the first series of BBC2’s series Beyond Boundaries[6] when she travelled through Nicaraguain jungles with ten other disabled people. She was one of the three contestants who were unfortunately unable to complete the expedition and did not appear in the final episodes of the series.

In 2008 she and 7 other disabled women were contestants on Britain's Missing Top Model where the prize was a fashion shoot for Marie Claire magazine.[4] Morgan was the runner-up to Kelly Knox. Four years later, in 2012, Morgan Stella McCartney's campaign for her 2012 Adidas Olympics collection.

Campaign work

Morgan designed the 'Mannequal', a wheelchair for a mannequin which was installed in Adidas and Debenhams.[7]She has also assisted in promoting SEAT, a programme to help disabled youths learn to drive.[8] Morgan has secured a number of further sponsorship deals for promoting disability equipment.

In 2012 Morgan, a huge supporter of paralympic sports, wrote an article for the Sports section of The Independent about the Paralympics[9] that was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor.[10]

In 2013, she won the Campaigner of the Year award from Cosmopolitan magazine.[11]

In 2015 Morgan became Patron of disability charity Scope.[12]

TV Appearances

Morgan has appeared in Horizon for BBC2[13], the The One Show for BBC1[14][15] and has reported for Channel 4 News as part of the No Go Britain series.[16]

In 2012, Morgan was one of the presenters for Channel 4 during the Paralympics[17] where she presented the weather report each morning.

In 2013, Morgan presented an autobiographical documentary on BBC Three called Licence to Kill about victims of road accidents such as herself involving young drivers.[18] In 2015 Morgan travelled to Ghana, west Africa to present a documentary for BBC Three called, The World's Worst Place To Be Disabled?[19]

Morgan has also presented during the 2016 Paralympics for Channel 4 in Rio, co-hosting with JJ Chalmers.

References

  1. ^ "Old Cumnorian News 2011/12". Cumnor House School. 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Autumn Term Week Three". Gordonstoun. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference donelly was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b "Britain's Missing Top Model: Sophie Morgan". BBC. 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  5. ^ Enable Magazine. 2013
  6. ^ BBC News. In Pictures: Beyond Boundaries
  7. ^ Price, Cheryl (10 April 2011). "Sophie Morgan's Mannequal: A Revolution in the Fashion Industry". Mobil Women. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  8. ^ "SEAT Puts Disabled Youngsters In The Driving Seat". 21 October 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  9. ^ Morgan, Sophie (3 September 2012). "The public's response has driven our athletes to even greater heights". The Independent. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  10. ^ McClanahan, Paige (9 September 2012). "Paralympics set to leave lasting impression on London". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  11. ^ Cosmopolitan. Winners List. 2013
  12. ^ "Our patrons - celebrity and VIP supporters - Disability Charity - Scope UK". Scope.org.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Horizon: Fix Me". BBC. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  14. ^ "The One Show 20/02/2014". BBC. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  15. ^ "The One Show 29/03/2016". BBC. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  16. ^ "Paralympic preseneter nightmare". Channel 4. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  17. ^ Beaty, Zoe (4 September 2012). "Are We Patronising The Paralympians?". Grazia. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  18. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s50lw
  19. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b064449w
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