Neurodiversity: Sisters with health issues eye martial arts glory

He described Lili-Rose, who took up martial arts only last year, as having the “heart of a lion”.

“She’s very, very talented and could go a long way,” he said.

Both girls said the martial arts helped them to channel their energy into something constructive, and that they wanted to “change the narrative” about their neurological conditions.

“Before, I found it difficult to socialise, but now it has really helped me with that because of my confidence,” Annarose said, while Lili-Rose said the sport makes her feel “happy” and “proud of myself”.

The sisters have received some sponsorship from a local company, Ms Davies said, but they have also set up a GoFundMe fundraising page because of the “financial burden associated with competing at this level”.

This would cover things such as training and protective equipment, travel and accommodation as well as entrance fees for competitions.

“We want to be able to send them to competitions in the future because unless you attend these competitions you won’t be prepared, and you definitely won’t qualify,” she said.

Because Ms Davies home-schools her daughters, the family relies on their father’s income from two jobs.

“With the cost of mortgages going up, times are difficult, especially if you want to see your children succeed in sports that are not funded,” she said.

Both girls are confident of success in this weekend’s tournament, and said it would “mean the world” to them to become world champions.

Their mother is also confident.

“Put it this way, I’m already thinking about where I need to make a bit of room for some extra medals,” she said.