HANNAH Ensor suffers a debilitating condition which means she has to spent a lot of her time in a wheelchair.

But she is determined to maintain a positive attitude to life and this upbeat outlook has led to her being recognised in a chart of the top 100 most influential disabled of 2016.

Hannah, 33, from Didcot, was born with a genetic condition, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects her blood flow and circulation, leaving her with mobility problems.

Miss Ensor lives on her own and has a personal assistant who visits her several times a week.

Several years ago she started writing stories involving stickmen to take her mind off her disability.

Her stories, including Biscuit Baking and Welly Walks, designed to help children aged two to five become more familiar with people in wheelchairs, have won her national recognition.

And now the Shaw Trust has named Miss Ensor as one of the top 100 most influential people with a disability or impairment for 2016.

Miss Ensor said: “I’m medically retired and I started drawing stickmen for the times I could not speak and it all started from there.

“It’s a way of showing how I normally am, as a person with disabilities, that other people can instantly relate to.

“I’m very chuffed to get this recognition and I’m bemused and flattered by it – because people like Tanni Gray-Thompson are on the list – it shouldn’t be happening.

“I’m trying to help people see that being disabled is not a case of being a scrounger or a hero – you are a normal person getting on with your life as best you can.

“I want to continue to raise the profile of people who are disabled as part of society.”

Miss Ensor said she did not go out in Didcot much but was a member of the Brunstad Christian Church in Didcot.

When she is able to she attends dance classes at the Ark T centre in Cowley.

She added: “I put my wheelchair in the back of my car and being disabled doesn’t stop me moving about.

“Sometimes I do the class when I am lying on the floor.

“I like watching crime dramas on TV and I have also got an off-roading power chair which I take out sometimes.”

Miss Ensor was diagnosed with the hypermobility syndrome at the age of 24 and a tissue disorder means her joints sometimes slip out of place. She also has a heart condition.

She first started the stickmen stories to take her mind off her health problems.

A former pupil at Didcot Girls’ School, she has also taught maths on a part-time basis.

A tribute from the Shaw Trust’s Power 100 list, praised Miss Ensor, saying: “Her quirky but accurate cartoons have become an internet sensation, popular with people of all ages; both with and without disabilities.Hannah’s work is also recommended and used by an increasing number of medical professionals.

“Her talent for drawing stickmen was a chance discovery during a hospital stay which grew into a career that works perfectly around her Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (‘being far too bendy and falling apart’) and Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (a tap-dancing heart and appearing drunk without alcohol).

“Hannah’s view of her disabilities as ‘a different normal’ and her zest for life spills out into all her work – whether drawing stickmen, giving lectures, blogging life’s adventures, fundraising for and working with charities, chatting on the train, or freewheeling at speed down any available ramp.

Miss Ensor is patron of the Hypermobility Syndromes Association and an advisory board member for Pain UK.

Miss Ensor’s website features keyring cards and hoodies featuring stickmen which are available for people to buy.

For further information, visit stickmancommunications.co.uk