Mary Hannon Fletcher

Biography

Mary was born in Belfast and in October 1975 she was shot in the spine on the Grosvenor Road Belfast. She was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, and then, a month or so later, to Stoke Mandeville hospital for rehabilitation. Mary has since been in a wheelchair. She went on to complete her training as a Biomedical Scientist before moving to England then Switzerland. Mary returned to NI completed a degree in Biomedical Sciences, first class in 1995 and completed a PhD in 1999. During the final year of her PhD Mary gave birth to a daughter Lucy, born in 1998, a peace baby!

Following a few years as a research officer Mary secured a lecturing post in Cellular Pathology in 2003, followed by Senior lecturer in 2010 and then in 2021 Mary was promoted to Professor. Mary has worked with WAVE since 2016, first in the Injured Group, who went on to be instrumental in securing a pension for the seriously injured. Mary remains a Board Member of WAVE, a member of the finance and research committees.