At eight years old, Chester’s Nathan Maguire woke up unable to walk. Now, at 22, the wheelchair racing champion says it was the best thing that ever happened to him.
When I was eight I went to bed with pins and needles. The next morning I woke up and couldn't move. We'd find out in hospital that I'd contracted a rare virus, Transverse Myelitis, which had attacked my spinal cord. Although, over the next weeks, I regained feeling in my arms and shoulders there was still nothing from my chest down. I'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
I don't remember feeling devastated or resentful. Maybe that was because of my parents' attitude. I was discharged from hospital on Christmas Eve and by January 5th my dad had taken me to my first wheelchair basketball session. I loved it. I got out of my clunky NHS chair and into a lighter, speedier sports chair. When you have a disability people often want to mollycoddle you. But, here, there was nobody telling me to slow down or be careful - it was about going faster, having fun and winning.
My coach, a Paralympian herself, encouraged me to try all sorts of sports. I did swimming, waterskiing, rowing and at 15 years old went on the racing track for the first time. I was quick. So quick that the next year I was entered into The London Mini Marathon; racing the last three miles of the London Marathon course. I won, taking a minute off the course record. The next year I took another minute off - that record still stands today.
I went on to compete in the Junior World Championships winning two silvers and a bronze and have been competing since. Last year, at the European Championships in Berlin, I won three bronzes in the 100m, 200m, and 800m races and a gold in the relay. Since graduating from Liverpool John Moores, I'm a full time athlete and receive some funding from UK Sport. I've just returned from Dubai where I placed ninth in the 800m. Now my sights are set on next year's Tokyo Paralympics. Do I think I can win gold? There is no point entering if you don't.
Whatever happens, it'll be incredible. I believe my disability is the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn't have travelled the world, met amazing people or raced for my country if it hadn't. I'm lucky.
