Paralympian Ellen Keane on inspiring young swimmer in Australia

A recent visit to Australia proved tearful, emotional and inspirational for Ellen Keane and one very young swimmer.....

So what happened to the 24-year-old Sky Sports Scholar from Dublin.....

I was in Australia recently and a dad - who follows me on social media and lives in Sydney - messaged me to see if I would like to meet his daughter who has an arm like me.

She's called Gemma, is a swimmer and only nine and we planned a surprise for her.

I headed down to Bondi beach with my best friend who is a swimming teacher and we met Gemma's dad. She was in the water and I shouted out to her that "Ellen Keane was here!". She said "what are you talking about?" and just looked at me.

I waved at Gemma and she started freaking out! Her reaction was just priceless and so overwhelming. It was so cute. My friend was also bawling!

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She ran back into the water and got her sister and when I started waving at her she was freaking out as well! I finally got to speak to Gemma who was a bit quiet to start with but she told me she is dreaming of going to the Paralympics.

It was all such a lovely surprise. She told me she loved looking at my photos on Instagram and she made jokes about her hand.

I agreed that it was great being able to make light of your arm and I told her that it's amazing having something many other people don't have.

I feel so lucky and privileged to be able to do what I do and meet such cool little kids like Gemma.