Think you could give rugby a go? How about if you'd had your neck broken and were paralysed from the chest down?! Well Mandip Sehmi and Steve Brown play wheelchair rugby, affectionately referred to as "murderball" for England and at the moment are campaigning to have it considered as a sport in the 2012 paralympics in London. If you think that the wheelchair version of rugby is in anyway toned down then you are very much mistaken. These men, are rough, tough and not afraid to take a bit of a battering during the game!
These athletes, along with the others featured in the programme (and the following channel 4 programmes) are the best in their field be it swimming, running, blind football or dressage. I'd just like to tell you about one more athlete who wasn't featured on the show.
Aimee Mullins is an American athlete, actress and model. Pretty impressive list of achievements for anybody let alone someone who had both legs amputated below the knee at one year old. As you can probably tell, Aimee has never let this hold her back. Like the thousands of other paralympians and disabled sports men and women out there Aimee has turned her disability round as she has the ability to do such amazing things that maybe she wouldn't have realised had she been able bodied.
I first became aware of Aimee Mullens because in 1999 she modelled on the catwalk for the late, great British designer Alexander McQueen wearing a fierce pair of carved wooden prosthetic legs which he had designed just for her.
She also acted as Cheetah Woman in the 2002 film Cremaster 3, complete with these fantastically beautiful Cheetah limbs.
For someone interested in fashion, and modelling, Aimee Mullins is one of my biggest inspirations. She shows that you can do whatever the hell you want with your life if you don't let the little things stand in your way. Go for it, be who you want to be, for the most part the only thing stopping you is you. Who wants to get to 70 and have a life full of regret? Certainly not me! I'm well on my way to getting what I want out of life. It may not be easy and it may not be instantaneous but it's within sight and within reach. I'll get there, the question you have to ask yourself is will you?
