Five-time Paralympic gold-medal winner Ellie Simmonds is set to appear in a new documentary looking at new drug that could end dwarfism.
The BBC documentary is set to shine a light on a controversial new drug that is said to stop the effect in children. The 27-year-old swimmer has a condition known as achondroplasia which is the most common form of dwarfism in the UK, causing people to be born with shorter limbs.
As the NHS runs trials for its roll out, Voxzogo could soon find its way onto the market in the UK. Ellie will be taking a closer look at the morality of taking the drug alongside drawing from her own experiences.
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Speaking ahead of the documentary, she said: "If I wasn't a dwarf, I wouldn't have gone to the Paralympics and made a career as an athlete that way. So I thought, 'gosh, if this drug was around when I was a kid, would I actually be who I am today?" Ellie will also meet with others in the dwarfism community who have concerns about the drug.
Meeting with parents of children who have achondroplasia, she discusses the issue of people who want to take the drug regardless of whether their child suffers any associated health problems. She also meets 10-year-old Talia who is currently on the NHS trial process for the drug who has grown six centimetres in 12 months, which is two centimetres more than the average for a child her age with dwarfism.
Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism airs Tuesday at 9pm on BBC1.
