Mum's The Word! The Parenting Podcast - NATASHA BAKER OBE: From Paralympics to Parenthood

Episode Date: August 24, 2025

This week on Mum’s The Word, Kelsey Parker is joined by the incredible Natasha Baker OBE - Paralympic champion, equestrian trailblazer, and now, proud mum.From her childhood dream of riding to glory, to winning double gold in London 2012 in front of a home crowd, Natasha’s story is nothing short of inspiring. But her journey goes beyond medals. Kelsey and Natasha chat about:✨ What it was like giving birth as a disabled mum🐴 How she first discovered her passion for horse riding🥇 The highs and lows of becoming a Paralympic winner👶 Life as a first-time disabled mum (and what she’s expecting with baby number two!)🌙 How a childhood visit to a spiritual healer changed her life forever🎯 Why she’s already setting her sights on LA 2028Fresh from her fourth Paralympic Games, with two more medals to add to her collection, Natasha proves that motherhood and elite sport can go hand-in-hand. Honest, uplifting, and packed with wisdom, this is an episode that will leave you cheering her on every step of the way.A Create Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Mums the Word. I'm your host, Kelsey Parker. Today I'm joined by the amazing Natasha Baker, OBE. Natasha's childhood dream of winning gold at the Paralympics became a reality when she, in front of her home crowd at the London 2012 Games won gold. And she landed an incredible second gold in the freestyle event just 48 hours later, setting a second Paralympic record. In 20203, Natasha took a break to have her son Joshua and came back to competition in 2004, just in time to qualify for the Paris Paralympics. Managing the balance between being a first-time mum and an athlete clearly suited Natasha as she came home from her fourth Paralympic games with two individual bronze medals, making her a 10-time Paralympic medalist.

So grab a cup her, get comfy, and let's jump in. to a brand new episode of Mums the Word. So, Natasha, thanks for joining me on the podcast today. Introduce yourself. Tell the listeners all about you. Oh, I hate that question. It's the hardest one, isn't it? You know, every single person that comes in this podcast, I hate that question.

I think it's so on the spot, isn't it? It is. Over to you. What do you want to know? I've given literally the longest, I think, intro for someone to ever have come. I'm on this show. You've done a lot. You've achieved a lot. I don't know how you are going to actually introduce yourself. So this is what I'm interested in. So I'm Natasha. I am a Paralympic dressage rider. I've been really fortunate to have gone to four Paralympic games.

Only four. Only four. So talk to me about giving birth the first time. So you've you've just had planned C sections. Yeah. So when I went into the hospital, obviously, being a person with a disability, they didn't really know, because it wasn't the hospital that I was under, they didn't really know much about me. So I had a lot of tests. I had scans and everything just to see if my spine was normal, like if I could have an epidural or a spinal and what the best method of delivery would be. Had a lot of doctors' appointments. I just felt like I was forever in the hospital. But they were amazing. Like they looked after me so, so well. And my idea going into pregnancy was that I wanted to have a C-section with a general anaesthetic because I am petrified of needles. Like, I have the biggest fear. And I thought, do you know what? If I'm asleep, then I can't see that they're literally cutting me in half and pulling a child out.

So I thought. Yeah. It's a sensation in the. And the thought of it. Like, the thought of it for me was far worse than probably happening. And I think through, because of my disability. spending a lot of my childhood in hospital, having a lot of trauma really from a very young age.

I don't really like that kind of environment. So I thought, do you know what? General anesthetic is the way for me. They had other ideas. And they were like, actually, we think that you could give birth vaginally. That I wasn't so keen on because it was the uncertainty of it.

Like, I don't really know, because I have limited sensation in my legs. I didn't really know whether I'd be able to push properly and whether I'd need some help. I thought, do you know what, a C-section for me? To be fair, when they give you an epidural, because does that just not numb everything anyway? Well, so I got into theatre and the epidural didn't work three times.

And the anesthetic doctor was like, I haven't had one fail in 25 years since I've been doing this. Well, they haven't met me. Yeah, you've not met me. Me and my messed up back. So, yeah, I ended up having my original plan of having a general anaesthetic. So I'm just going to go for that this time and know that actually everything's okay. Because by having those three epidurals, it sent my blood pressure through the roof.

I was then in recovery for about 12 hours because I was really, really poorly, like coming out of it. So it's just better. It's just a lot of medication. It is. It is exactly. And I was literally shaking before I had the like thing over my face to send me off to sleep. So I was like, right, I'm just going to go for that this time. At least we know now, like, my spine can't accept an epidural and that's what it is. So. And do you think that's what it was? I think it was she said that my vertebrae are really, really close together because I'm quite short. Yeah. She basically just couldn't get it in the gap. And I do have spinal damage. So I guess there's been bits of messed up vertebrae or nerves or whatever in there. And yeah, it, I mean, it looks fine on a scan, but clearly

isn't like what it looks like to what it is yeah very different story so that's quite good you've actually got a plan though yes like at least i know that you know that morning i'll be going off to hospital and baby boy will be here in a few hours which is lovely have you got names i'm like a complete control freak so we had the same with joshua like by i think we found out that he was going to be a boy at 16 weeks by 17 weeks we had a name like everything was sorted and yeah i really yeah oh i'm not your worst nightmare. But now you've got like every gadget under the sun, haven't you? Literally everything. Because you don't know what you need with the first one. So I just found myself. I was also given quite a lot of stuff as well. And so you kind of figure out. What from people or

from brands? From brands. We had our pregnancy announcement in Hello magazine. So we got given loads, which was amazing. But you kind of then filter. You use everything at the beginning and then actually you get your staple products, don't you that you absolutely love and swear by. What would be a staple for you. For me, I loved our cot. It was a stocky, sleepy, and it's on wheels, so I just used to be able to, like, drag it around. But do you think I should just have that then?

Oh, my God, it's amazing. But it doesn't rock, is it? It doesn't rock. Why is my rocking sensation then? But they do, don't they do, like, um, the rocket, exactly. But I think they do one for buggies as a cots now as well. That moves, the stocky moves, the stocky moves. Yes.

I mean, I was calling it stoke. Oh, I don't know what to call it. But it's stocky, I think. Obviously, that gets big. isn't it that car yes yeah it's brilliant so he's still in it now although he climbed out of it this morning he did he did it's when they can they realize that you're gonna be on the bed yeah so so anyway that's worked out yeah it's fine like it's just probably not the best timing i was hoping that i'd get a few more months of him but he's quite tall he's got his dad's tall height

jeans so um so yeah he was out and i was like oh my god now what am i going to do so i'm try and leave him in it like enclosed for as long as possible and then and he's a boy as well he's gonna climb out i know he's just one snuggles i think with arralia when i put because it is that fear factor of when you put them into the first bed that they then can get out yeah i feel like she did that for a little while but then was like she's fine she's she she's never really slept with me really but bodie was my nightmare cuddler cudler wants to be with me yeah he does actually love being his own bed, like if he's been poorly or whatever, we've brought him in. I'm surprised because you co-s slept with him for... I know. I know. But I think he does like his own space. So we might be

okay. Who knows? We'll just have to play it by ear once it happens. And I think you try and make all these plans, but it all depends on what child you're given. Yeah. If they cry a lot. Yeah. If they're hungry. We're so lucky, honestly. I call him the perfect child. Like, he's always been a good sleeper. He's always been a good eater. Oh my God. You're going to get the devil. So that. I I keep saying that. I'm breeding the devil right now. I think you are. Because if he's perfect,

he'll be like, yeah, but have this. Yeah, exactly. Whereas mine was the halfway. Aurelia was an absolute nightmare. Cried,

hated being a baby, wanted to be older than what she was until she got older. Whereas Bode came and was just so chilled. That's so nice. But I was saying to her mom to stay, I was like with Bode he's chilled until he's not. Yeah.

And then he just loses a lot. You can't bring him back. With Aurelia, I can, I can bring her back to, okay, to, or like, not bribe her, but sort of say, like, do this, like, I can get around her, I can work, I can mould her. Bodie, it's like he's not doing it. Yeah, you kind of find yourself becoming a queen of negotiation, don't you? Like, just trying to. Oh, the negotiation. Oh, wait until you get to spellings. Oh, God. I was negotiating spellings today. How do you negotiate spelling? Basically, I say, if you get over a certain amount, I'm, well, she, basically, I say, if you get over a certain amount, which she has to do it out of 12. I say if you get 10 out of 12,

you can have an ice cream. Okay. On Friday. So spending test Thursday. But last week, she came out of school and was like, I only got four. The end of the world.

It was in, but then it was like, so she had a dance competition on Sunday, and I know that when she has something else on, she, like, sort of everything else goes out the window. Right. So I was like, look, you can have an ice cream this week,

but I'm not doing that next week. So he was in the car. Can you do your spellings? I'm not doing my spellings. I went, well, that's fine. I said, but when you come out and you only get four again, you won't be getting the ice cream this week. Yeah, and you're going to be really upset about that. And you are going to be really upset and you're going to cry loads, but I'm trying to make you do your spellings now. Yeah. So that was my negotiation this morning. She did do her spellings? I was going to say, did she do them. Yeah, she did do them. The temptation was there. Thankfully. So how do you juggle everything? How did you juggle life? I don't really know how. How do you struggle all. I don't really know how. I don't. I don't really know how. I I did last year, to be honest with you, because I had him in the April. I was back riding in three months later and then I had to get qualified. Did it feel different riding after having a baby? Yes. My body was certainly very different. Like my boobs just got so big. The first time I trotted, my trainer was bent over laughing because they were just like, yeah. And did they hurt? I had a really good sports bra. But I had to

to double up on them sometimes because of course it's quite a high impact sport so that's where I had to wait for like 11, 12 weeks after I'd had him. But yeah, like once I got kind of back into shape, but I was very, very fortunate because I'd done the three games previously. I was like, I really, really want to go to Paris

and compete at that games. But also I want to be a really present mom as well. Like I don't want to just palm him off. Like you don't get that time back. and that was his first year. We talk about it all the time on this pod and Tasha said that she does listen all the time but it's so hard juggling

I think trying to be that present mum and a working mum and achieve your goals and dreams to make them proud of you is so hard. So hard. And you always feel guilty like always. Whatever you do you feel guilty. Literally.

And they make you feel guilty. So guilty. I mean I'm very lucky. I've got my mum who is amazing and so the horses are at my mum and dad's farm. From that aspect, it was really easy and I've just, I narrowed it down to just having one horse that year. So I wasn't taking up too much time. But I wasn't going into Paris as fit as I would have liked to have been. But I feel like I got the balance as well as I could. And I was like, if I make it to Paris, then that's amazing. I had no like expectations.

What do you have to go through to get to an Olympics? So we have qualification competitions that we have to enter and compete at and basically win. So I went straight into an international in the May of 2024 and luckily won that and then I had an international every month after that and luckily won all three of them going into Paris. I don't say lucky. It's not luck, isn't it? I mean, there was quite a lot of luck last year.

Was there? There was, yeah, because I, like, I just, I didn't. She's just had a kid, let's mark her up. bonus points not having a cute baby at the side but yeah i mean like the first one going back i was really nervous and i don't do nerves like i go in i'm full focus mode but you just i've had 20 months out of competing and you just don't know what's happened in that 20 months and i do think your hormones change that make you fill the nerves yeah absolutely like again it's it's quite a dangerous sport like i could fall off like anything could happen and my horse she was so amazing like she looked after me so so well and I do think she had like

that sixth sense and and yeah she just went in and absolutely bossed it and yeah I've got my qualification spot and off I went to Paris so that was a bit of logistical and not a nightmare but it was it was much more logistical trying to work out what was going to happen out there with a baby he was one and like two months so my husband who's also self-employed he took two weeks off work came out and basically yeah looked after him so he was staying he had the room next door to us and yeah it all it all did work out it cost us a lot of money to do it but it was totally worth it and how are you funded for that uh not for that no so we're funded i'm funded personally to compete and to do the sport how do you earn your money so we get a funded personally to compete and to do the sport

you all the questions. How do you earn your money? So we get paid the same as every other sport. So like we get paid the same as swimming. And obviously our sport is quite expensive. So I do have to do other things. I have to do public speaking. I also do some commentary. So like I do have to fund it in other ways. And I'm really lucky I've got an amazing sponsor and some owners as well that look after the horses and pay for that. So, you know, we are very, very fortunate. But, it's still like my husband had to take two weeks off of work. It's a lot. It is a lot and it adds up. But he must have been so proud of you. He was so proud. And for me, like every games has brought something different

and bought something amazing. But for me, going into the arena and having Mark, my husband and Joshua there like cheering for me, he was waving the flag. It was just, I had to hold back tears before I'd even started. I literally was.

Yeah, it was. It was an amazing feeling. Are you done now? Kids wise or sport? We've done the kids one. I honestly don't know. I think I've got to see how I feel once number two has come along. I went to go and watch at a competition last week.

And I didn't get that, oh my God, I really want to be doing that. I need to be back in the arena. But that could just be because you're with child. This is it, exactly. And my mum asked, you know, did you miss it? And I was like, actually no, because I know I can't at the moment. Yeah. So I think next year will be the tail town.

The reason why I wanted my second straight after Paris was so that I did have that time to prepare for LA if I want to do it. So, yeah, I've got to make a decision. And also, L.A. is not Paris, either, is it? No, it's not just down the road. No. So, yeah, that's going to be a much bigger thing. But the boys will be bigger then. You know, this one will be three.

so it's a bit easier So it could be potential of you being there Who knows, we'll have to wait and see But I've got, I'd have quite a lot to do Because we ended up selling Lottie Who I rode in Paris So I'd have to find another horse And that's a right question

This might be a really stupid question But if it's really stupid, we're cutting it out How do you get the moment So say you're like going to L.A They just, they get on a boat No, they fly They fly? Yeah, they fly.

So for... You can get them on a boat. That would take too long. So, yeah, they get on an airplane and fly out there. So they flew to Rio. We had, we've had World Championships in America. Oh my God, you just don't even think of that though, do you? But flying a horse?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's a lot for a horse to go through. It is, yeah. I mean, they're very, very adaptable and they just kind of go with the flow and, yeah, off they go. They go in like these crates and then a crane picks them up, puts them in, and they fly with vets. So they're with, like, experienced people. They know what they're doing.

I mean, I just wouldn't even think of this, though. Like, horses just... Chill it out. Yeah. In first class. With their champagne. Like, can I have a mehito, please? I won a medal, so I did too.

Oh, my God. I didn't even think. But that's, it is a lot for a horse to go through. And then by the time they land, how long have you got till you all get in the paddock? About a week. Is it every like that? Yeah. I've got that right as well.

Arena. Arena. Yeah. It's fine. I do horse riding. Not obviously to your level of being an amazing horse rider. What got you into? My mum. She's always.

All her fault. So I was brought up on the family farm. Horses were always there and at home literally walked outside my front door and there they were. And yeah, I just had, I don't know, I just loved being around them and my mum used to compete. She actually did every discipline apart from dresser, what I do. and I just had the bug I think it was bred into me I really really do like it's just in my blood

and I wanted to ride so much but my mum was very aware that she didn't want to be a pushy parent You've got to be sometimes that And actually it was my physiotherapist that called my mum and was like Do you realise how desperate Natasha is to ride And then I found the riding for the disabled organisation

I think I was about eight But I'd ridden kind of on and off a little bit at normal riding schools, but it didn't really work because the horses weren't used to riders with disabilities, neither were the instructors. Do you think your mum had a bit of fear for you to ride? I don't think

she actually did. She's quite, like, matter of fact and, you know, if that's what you want to do, then off you go. And as long as I'm safe, then she's all right. But I think that's why the RDA was so good, because they are literally set up for riding for the disabled. So they

they have adaptations to tack they have people and volunteers that understand what we need and the ponies you know don't respond to kicks they respond to your voice aid so it was a much more natural thing for me to then get into and and to be able to then enjoy rather than so I guess for you finding horses actually not just straightforward no no it's like finding a needle in a haystack it really is like it's so hard I've sat on horses and not you're not even been able to get them to move because they just cannot fathom the fact that I have no use of my legs at all. So they're like, kick me, come on.

Yeah, exactly. Give us a bit of leg. But yeah, it's so, so hard to find the right one. So what would be your indicator for them to move? Voice. So I'd say, like, walk on. And, yeah, they'd go. And that's why finding one that is going to potentially win me a medal is so, so difficult.

So, and you don't get many opportunities to trial horse. when they're for sale because they come on the market and the good ones like fly out the door straight away. Some of the good ones aren't even advertised and so you have to have a really good network within the sport to be able to find the right ones and yeah and go and try all of them that you can. But I think like I always say it's like meeting the one like it was like meeting. Yeah exactly like I knew he was the one like I knew lottie was the one that was going to win me medals. But it is true, you just get that instant connection

and that feeling that actually this is going to really work. Well, I don't sound silly, but you know, I'm in Avatar. I feel like it is that with a host. Like when they like connect, don't know. It is that connection. 100%. Absolutely. Like, and I do think they either want to work with you or they don't and they want to

adapt to my disability or they're like, no, no, no, this is just mind blown. So, and I know probably within two to five minutes of sitting on a horse, whether it's going to work out, yeah. Are you going to get the boys into riding? If they want to. I'm probably going to follow my mum's route that she did with me and, yeah, take their lead. And if they want to ride, then, you know, we're very lucky we've got the set up that they can. And if they don't. They're just for a bit on a whole shirt?

Oh my God, yeah. Yeah. So I started riding at 18 months old. Did you? My brother was riding before me five years older. So my mum said she used to take me then. And I used to be like, well, you can imagine me as an 18-month-old. Me?

Can you get me on the horse? And then that was it. I had to give up because obviously I think you have to pick your path. And obviously my path was performing and doing what I do. And mum was like, I just kind of fall to do everything. Horse riding is a very... It's expensive. Because that's what I really would love to get the kids into it.

But I'm like, it's just... It's a lot. And it's a big commitment. Even just the lessons are so expensive for horse riding. Yeah. And then if you buy your own horse... Imagine my kids. They're going to want ponies.

Can I have a pony. Mommy, you have a pony. But like some riding schools do, like, have a pony for a day. And I think that's really good because it also teaches the children responsibility of, like, they have to get up and feed them. This Christmas, not having Lottie, was the first Christmas ever that we haven't had horses to look after. Really? Yeah, like, I always used to be out there in my pajamas, like, making up their feeds.

I can't physically muck out, but, like, helping to look after them. And so they always have to come first before. on Christmas morning or your birthday like they are the priority because they can't do it. So our whole is for life not just for Christmas guys. Literally literally like and that's the thing with our sport compared to football where you can

put a football away and forget about it and pick it up the next day if you fancy doing it like it is a big big commitment. Well like we were saying even the expense it's a lot more of an expense. Yeah absolutely yeah they need looking after what's what's Mark's passion cars you've both actually got quite expensive I know it was

expensive taste. And Joshua at the moment is into both. So who knows which way it's going to go. Like, as in he likes cars as in like getting them into racing, like racing. Well, that's Mark's plan with one of the boys at least. So who knows? But again, at least you can put a car in a garage. And I know it still costs a bit, but at least you've not got to wake up Christmas morning and feed them. Exactly. Exactly. So who knows what way. So are you going to get another horse soon? I don't know yet. I'm going to see how it goes once this one is born. Obviously, I need to get fit again and need to get riding fit because I don't want to be going and trying straight horses.

But you do know in your head that you've done it. I think it's the unknown, isn't it? Like, I don't know what it's going to be like being a mum of two. And so I need to figure my way out of doing that and then think about coming back to sport. But yeah, it's certainly on the radar. Because it is that some people say, don't they? Some people have their second and they go, oh my God,

it was so much easier with the second. some people say going from none to one is the hardest. One to none to one to two. Oh my God, the baby brain. Is your baby brain bad? Oh my God. Oh my God. So bad.

I'm forgetting everything at the moment. Like, muddling my words up. It's the muddling the words. Like, why do they not tell us that this stuff is going to happen to us? They don't warn you. I will be, and I've tried to say stuff and I'm like, I've got nothing. I've got nothing.

I was on a TikTok live and I was like, does it even? make sense what I'm saying. Great fog. Yeah, it is though. Yeah, it is totally. Do you have an insatiable fascination with the paranormal? Are you ready to dive headfirst into the eerie realms of the unexplained? Brace yourself for the supernatural world is about to reveal all of its secrets on the paranormal activity podcast.

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So what has your journey been like as a mum with a disability? It's been a bit of a roller coaster. Like, I was researching before I had him, like how I would do things, like how other mums in wheelchairs or, how other mums with disabilities cope. And there wasn't really a lot out there. There was more for people that had had children that had developed a disability than there was for mums with disabilities.

So I found that quite difficult because I didn't even know whether I was going to be able to pick Joshua up and carry him, for example. Like I didn't know if I was going to have the balance to be able to do that or if there was a tool to be able to... Did you struggle with that?

I found a carrier that I used to be able to put him in, a bit like a handbag. that I used to be able to put him in and then carry him and then I'd have one walking stick. Or if I was in my wheelchair, I used to be able to put it on my lap and put the like strap around my neck and then be able to wheel my wheelchair. So I found my way through things. But again, I feel like I'm going to have that obstacle again now with two. Like even pushing a buggy, for example, like how do you push a buggy when you're in a wheelchair? Like some of them I couldn't even see over the handlebar

And I was like, how am I going to get out? Can you see over the donkey? I don't know, it hasn't arrived yet. Let me know. You're like, I'll see I'll pick the wrong one. I really hope so. Fingers crossed. But to be honest with you.

But when you're actually going to buy a buggy and you have a disability, I guess like, because I wouldn't obviously think like that, but do they even have a guideline to say? Nothing. There is nothing out there at all. And of course, I was going to horse shows. Niche for you. know well there so we did look into it and there's a company in israel that have developed these

clips that clip from your wheelchair onto the buggy so you can push but it hasn't been properly developed yet and i'm like there must be so many other mums in my situation sure that need something like this because i can't be the only person and i also don't want other moms that are in a similar situation for it to put them off wanting a chair like wanting to children because you know it's such a big thing in your life with you a mock was that ever was that ever a topic of conversation to say like I wanted children so but it was never like do you think we can no because even like you're saying like even going to the hospital scenario and like I'm pregnant and then having to run so many tests on you to say like can you even have a child like well

you're like I am pregnant so good deal with it we're having a baby yeah it's coming Yeah, I think I'm a very, very laid back person and I think because I've had to overcome challenges. And you are so positive. Your positivity just reigns through that you're like, right, I'm having a baby. I'm having a second baby. Let's just figure it out. I'm going to L.A. and I'm going to go and get a gold medal. Basically, yeah. And that's how I kind of got into the whole Paralympic thing. When I was 10 years old, I literally announced to my mom that I was going to win a Paralympic gold medal. So, like, that is just my way of dealing with things. And so, like, yesterday, I took Joshua to Westfield. And I was like, how the hell am I going to do this in a few months' time with a newborn baby as well?

I was like, I don't know, but I didn't know how I was going to do it with him. And I figured it out. So I was just like, do you know what? It's just going to be trial and error. Yeah. And just getting out. And I know that able-bodied moms feel the same. So, you know, I'm not on my own out there.

And I did babyware. him loads. But also, I've got to say to able-bodied mums, like, you are hats off to you that you are doing it. Do you know what I mean? Some of us moans sometimes, but you're actually having to go through this and think about how am I going to take him out? How am I going to do that? Like, it's actually physically doing it. Yeah, it is. And it's really, I don't, can I swear, bloody hard. Yeah. Oh, that was a tame swear word. But yeah, it's really bloody hard sometimes. But do you find it hard for people? Do you find it hard to then be empathetic to people who are able-bodied and go like, oh, I can't go out and I can't do anything and

I don't know what I'm going to do. Like, do you just go, hello? Get on with it. Yeah. How do you feel? I'd like to think I'm a little bit more sympathetic than get on with it. But like I think the thing is like nobody knows what's going on behind the scenes in people's lives, right? And so I was very lucky that Joshua was such an easygoing baby and I could take him out. And I know I am so lucky that I have got a village around me. Like I've got a lot of people to support. me and to help me. And my mum and dad obviously brought me up with a disability. And so they're very used to having to adapt as well. And they're very positive like me. And so our life motto has always been like, I can do whatever I want to do. It may not be in the conventional way, but it'll be in

my own way. And so I just kind of have to figure things out. And so I'd like to think if somebody was struggling that I would hopefully like send them a bit of support and say like you can do this because there always is a way and like even when you're going through a really tough time and like you know it wasn't all plain sailing when Joshua was a newborn. I had days where I was indoors all day and didn't even like brush my hair but you know there are other days where it does work and you can get out and it's just riding the wave of motherhood isn't it and and just doing the best that you can which we all are trying to do exactly and like i've just got an extra bump in my road with my disability and you know you just i've had to get on with it my entire life and so that's just

another thing that i've got to get on with but that's fantastic because you are just so positive yeah and i think it is that positive mindset that can get you through a lot of things yeah you have to be you absolutely have to be like my mom and dad were told that i would never walk as a child and my granddad actually was like, no, we're not going to listen to the doctors. We're going to go down an alternative route. And I had healing when I was two. And I'm sure that that's the only reason that I'm walking now. Like I can only walk.

Because you had that healing? Yeah. Yeah. Like my legs were blue and they had never moved. I am just so on your page. They never moved. I don't feel as woo-woo. I believe in all of the healing.

Oh, 100%. And the thing is, Why wouldn't you try it? Like, if you've got nothing else to lose, just go and do it and explore it. And obviously with Tom, we got to the point where obviously the NHS were like, this is all we can provide you. So I was like, obviously I'm going to, like Tom would say, if you, if they said that hopping down the street would cure me, you'd have me doing it. I was like, absolutely. We done so many different things and it's trial and error and it's what works for you.

but it actually then brought me into a path of life where again like I think when you're healing and doing all that it's it's all positivity isn't it's energy it's yeah totally so your legs were blue so my legs were blue I had no circulation they hadn't moved in about a year 14 months so I was 14 months when I contracted the virus I was able-bodied so what did you have met did you have no it was called transverse myelitis so it's basically nerve damage in a section across the spine

And some people make a full recovery from it. How would you have got that? Who knows? It's not a viral infection. It's just... So it's a trauma-based virus. So if your body's been through some sort of trauma, you can then have this virus. So it was extremely rare in babies.

You didn't have a trauma? Not that we know of. We literally cannot put it down to anything. My mum and dad put... So I was playing one day, running around the kitchen table, fell over, like just randomly, like collapsed. Mum and dad were like, oh, you know, whatever, just pick me up, had my bath, had my dinner, I was fine after that, put me to bed and apparently I always used to be an early riser

and I hadn't woken up by like 6.30 or mum hadn't heard me by 6.30, so she went into my room and she found me literally like a ragdoll. I couldn't talk, I couldn't cry, I couldn't move any part of my body. So it obviously was rushed to hospital and luckily my upper body and my speech came back quite quickly but it was very clear that nothing from like my waist down was working at all and so I was very very lucky I got into Great Ormond Street Hospital and they diagnosed me with transverse myelitis and yeah that that was it so like extremely scary I mean I just can't even imagine what your mum and dad went through like you think now as being a mum yeah I can't imagine you you're the living being of it yeah and I did I was so young I didn't know and so like

Then I was obviously, like, in a buggy the whole time. I couldn't move around. I couldn't crawl. And then that was when my granddad looked into healing. And they said, yeah, that I'd be permanently in a wheelchair. And that would be it, basically. And my granddad found this healer. I got other plans.

Exactly. Who had undergone, like, laboratory tests and cured some cancer cells and made frog legs come back. And he was like, if you're going to go to anybody, go to the best. So we went to Matthew Mavis. and I was sat on my dad's app and again I have no recollection of this I was I think two years old or just two and Matthew put his hand on my tummy and put his hand on my spine where the nerve damage was and my dad said I just got like really really hot and then my legs started twitching and they hadn't moved in like a year and so we went back to

Matthew for years until we felt and he felt that he couldn't do anymore for me but like I was riding a bike with stabilisers on I was riding horses I was walking with my well first with a frame and then with my walking sticks and what did the doctors say well they were amazed when I walked in with my frame for the first time and yeah they just said what have you done and we told them and then what was their reaction to that again I can't remember but I think it was like well you know it's clear worked and yeah I mean I'm never going to be able bodied but at least I've got some level of independence and I can walk very short distances but that's still better than nothing right yeah see we took tom to like quantum healing and after you'd have the quantum healing I don't know why

when he got sick he just was he wanted to wear like bright colors and that wasn't tom he used to wear like black and black a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans that was basically what he wore. He had this bright orange track suit on and he came out of the quantum healing and just started like his nose was just bleeding and bleeding. But obviously it was shifting wasn't it? Whatever was in his head

was shifting and I was like I visually saw it. Like your parents have sat there and seen your legs twitch. And you can't tell the two year old, can you? Like it's not placebo because I was too young to know what was going on. It's not placebo. No. But Tom's

motto in life, used to always say to me, like, once you see it, you can't unsee it. And it was like, I always laugh at this statement that he'd always make to me. And now I'm like, that again is mine, because I've seen it. How can I not believe it? Exactly. Exactly. And it's just being open-minded, isn't it? And like, there's probably loads of people out there that don't think it works for them. And that's absolutely fine. But it absolutely worked for me. Exactly. It 100% worked for me and you know i'm like forever grateful for my granddad you know putting that into our lives and what made your granddad think of to do that he was always like light years ahead of

everybody else he he did yoga before yoga was a thing and he was really into his alternative medicines and everything and so he was like well why not just give it a go and yeah my mom's always been really open-minded as well and so we've just thought well they just thought let's let's let's go for it. Go granddad. He knew it. He knew it was going to help. And he knew that one day you were going to be winning a gold medals at the London Olympics.

Well, it's funny because Matthew said from like word go, he was like, there's something special and you're going to change people's lives. So it's, yeah. I love stories. I know. I just love it. I love it now. I just think there's so much more out there, isn't there, than what we're told. And actually, you've just got to just got to delve into it.

and find your way. So how does it feel having a gold medal? Really weird. I always say, I always say like there's the normal me. There's like the Natasha and then there's the athlete Natasha. There's like Natasha who's like, Kelsey don't even talk to me. I mean, the rider when she came today, it was just extreme.

But I just feel like the pony mad, 10 year old that has just gone on and, and crazy things have happened to me like I just feel like it's a different version of me because I still look at my medals and I'm like did I really do that like did that really happen to me especially London because I was I was only 22 back then and going in

just and I went into London not expecting anything at all I do feel like even with the London Olympics because I feel like so many of the Brits did so well a London Olympics because it was like the mindset to be we are here in our hometown we have got to smash this and the crowd like I cannot begin to tell you how much they lifted you like just going into the arena and having so many flags being waved for me and people chanting my name and it was just the most magical feeling and I think it lifted my horse and

it lifted me and we just went in there and did our absolute best performance and pulled it out the bag like we got our record I don't think it's the Paralympic record now but it was a Paralympic record then and like it's just someone comes like your record absolutely wild I'm like how did I do that like little old pony mad me and and I just went on to to do these things I still can't really fathom that that's happened in my life it's bizarre but it has it has yeah and every time I look at my medals I'm like wow that's where do you store your medals in safe it's really boring isn't it I need to get I want to get like a room and put them all on display.

Have you got a torch from the London? No, I haven't. Have you? I don't. I don't want anyone to come to steal mine either. This is the thing. Yeah, Tom did, do you know when they were the part in the torch? Yeah, yeah, yeah, the relay.

So everyone that did that got a torch. Yes, they did. I've got one at home. I think how amazing for the kids. Oh, yeah, they'll love that. Show and tell at school. Yeah, they're not taking it anywhere. I'm like, right, how are we getting this into school?

Like, how amazing is that? That's really cool. That is really, really cool. Why didn't you get one? Truly, they should have given one. I didn't do a relay. I got the medal. Yeah, I got the medal.

I think the torch is way better than a medal. Oh, yeah. I definitely would have won the medal. But also, like, I think if I put them on display, I think it's really important to be able to take those medals around to schools and, you know, all the speeches and stuff that I do to be able to take those medals and let people feel them because that's, that's the magic of it. So many people are like, oh, I've never held a Paralympic medal before. And actually, if I can give them. that experience and hopefully then motivate them to follow their dreams like I did then that's really special for me and like I've always said if I can inspire somebody to follow their dreams

whether that be in Paralympic dressage or whether that be you know becoming an astronaut I just want people to feel that there's nothing they can't do yeah and they work hard and you are doing that and it is about working hard it doesn't come easy it doesn't you're not just going to wake up and one day be a Paralympic gold medalist? It doesn't happen like that, unfortunately. We wish life was like that, but you are telling people that, you know, don't let anything hold you back. And even being a mum of two with a disability, you are owning that.

Thank you. That's very kind. I'm doing my best. Thank you for coming on. Thank you. That's a wrap on another episode of Mum's the Word. Thank you so much for joining us today as we were joined by the amazing. Natasha Baker, O-B-E.

Don't forget to leave us a review and follow us on our socials at at Mums the Word underscore pod and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Just search Mums the Word. Until next time, I'm Kelsey Parker and this has been Mums the Word. We'll be back with another episode,

same time, same place next week.