Tributes have been paid to a well-loved St Albans activist who campaigned tirelessly for disabled people’s rights.
Glen Shorey passed away in hospital at 25 years old on the night of January 26, surrounded by friends and family.
He was diagnosed at just nine years old with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare genetic condition that causes degenerative nervous system damage and movement problems.
The condition meant Glen had an enlarged heart, a symptom which eventually led to his passing.
At the initial diagnosis doctors gave Glen only 21 years, but he did not let that hold him back - creating a blog called The Adventures of Wheelchair Boy, he started to campaign for disabled people’s rights in St Albans and beyond.
On one occasion, Glen focussed his attention on accessibility at train stations after he experienced multiple difficulties using public transport.
He was forced to travel via Luton on his way back to St Albans from London, just because Thameslink train lifts were faulty.
When St Albans district council concreted cyclist speed humps on a cycle path leading to King Harry Lane, which were too high for wheelchair users, Glen succeeded in forcing the authority to remove them.
As an Arsenal FC fan, Glen also visited every Premier League stadium in the country to make sure they were wheelchair accessible.
The former Sandringham School pupil also raised just over £4,200 for Great Ormond Street Hospital with a sponsored skydive.
Glen’s sister Rachel said: “I am honoured and grateful to have called you my brother. We had such amazing times together and you have taught me so much.
“You were my world, my strength, my friend, my brother, my advisor and my inspiration and there are not enough words in the world to thank you for being such an amazing brother.
“You will always be in my heart and I know you will always be with me until the day we meet again.”
She said Glen, who had lived independently in New Greens for the last two years, was always positive and determined to make the world a better place without letting his disability define him.
“For someone who was dealt a bad hand, he lived the most independent life that he could and was aware that there are people who weren’t as lucky as him.”
A memorial was held at Sandringham School on February 22.
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