Mackay teacher Sarah Purnell takes out Irish dancing World Championship with sprained ankle

Sarah Purnell was forced to perform half of her dances with a sprained ankle, saying ‘it was now or never’ to achieve her dream.

Irish dancer Sarah Purnell was forced to perform half of her dance routines in the World Championship with a sprained ankle, saying ‘it was now or never’ to achieve her dream.

The Mackay Northern Beaches State High School teacher had been training for 21 years in Irish dance, falling in love with the traditional art form when she was just five years of age.

“It comes from cultural roots, the Irish weren’t allowed to dance so people learnt to dance just from the waist down,” Purnell said

“So anyone looking in from windows wouldn’t be able to prove they were dancing.

“There’s a saying that Irish dancers don’t make good general dancers because we don’t know how to use our arms.”

But that does not mean the art form is anything less than pure athleticism.

Rather, Purnell said Irish dancing takes an incredible toll on the feet, ankles and legs, a cost Purnell has been forced to battle more than most.

Purnell lives with Ehrler’s Danlos hypermobility syndrome, meaning her joints are hyper flexible and very unstable.

“I sprain joints very easily and they take four times longer than usual to heal,” she said.

“I have to strap my ankles heavily every time I dance or workout.”

Purnell said she saw her physiotherapist, chiropractor and podiatrist regularly and took carefully co-ordinated supplements to aid in healing and recovery.

“It’s a huge physical and financial commitment to keep dancing at this level,” she said.

Because of Covid-19, competitors in the 2021 Irish Dancing World Championships sent in videos of their performances rather than competing live on a stage.

This allowed for dancers to film numerous retakes and pick the best version, but because of Purnell’s hypermobility she was forced to do just a single take for three out of four of her dances.

Purnell said she fell and sprained her ankle at the beginning of the third performance, and with her condition she knew it would seize up by the next day making it impossible to dance on.

“It was now or never,” she said.

She completed the second half of her dances with a sprained ankle, requiring a brace for weeks after.

“Aside from my sheer determination to fulfil my lifelong dream of dancing at the World Championships, the only thing that kept me dancing after spraining my ankle was the countless hours of blood, sweat and tears spent training,” Purnell said.

Purnell trains more than 10 hours a week at City Fitness and practises at the Claddagh School of Irish Dance.

Two other competitors from Claddagh also ranked highly at the championships.

Tahlee Keane placed fifth in the Under 15 age group and Gypsy Looby finished up in 12th place in the Under 17s.

“We all have an amazing capacity inside us that we don’t even know we can unlock,” Purnell said.

“It just takes a bit of hard work.”