AN INSPIRATIONAL teenager is set to jet off to South America after being invited to represent Great Britain in the Paralympic School Games in Brazil this week.
Seventeen-year-old Kieran Maxwell, from Heighington, was presented with a WellChild Award in October for the way he has battled back from losing his left leg to Ewing’s Sarcoma – a rare form of bone cancer – at the age of 12.
Now he is preparing to make the journey to Natal, which will host the competition over four days starting on November 24, where he is hoping a good performance will help him get one step closer to his ultimate goal of being selected for Paralympics in Rio next summer.
Kieran said: “I’m so excited. They phoned up when I was training and said ‘how would Kieran like to go to Brazil to represent Great Britain?’ “My mam didn’t know what to say – I saw her coming over and she was shaking. I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
Kieran’s ticket to Brazil is just the latest example of sporting success and achievement since losing his leg.
Over the last three years he has carried the Olympic torch, become a national champion in gymnastics and taken part in numerous sprinting competitions around the country – in addition to working tirelessly to raise awareness of Ewing’s Sarcoma.
Proud moment: Kieran carrying the Olympic Torch in 2012
Reflecting on his sporting journey, he said: “I started doing the gymnastics when I found out I’d be carrying the Olympic torch.
“After the treatment I had no upper body strength and I wouldn’t have been able to carry it by myself, so it was a practical thing to train up for that.
“I just continued doing it after that, and I became British champion – but that was as much as I could do with it.”
Not content to limit himself to the gymnastics, Kieran has instead been pushing himself for the last two years to pursue a Paralympic place in the 100 metre sprint – training four nights a week with Darlington Harriers and Athletic Club, based at Eastbourne Sports Complex.
He added: “I’m pretty confident for next month – I’ve dropped my time by three seconds in the space of a year, to about 14 seconds.
“My target for the end of the year is to get it down to the thirteens.”
Young British athletes have been invited to take part in both the Olympic and Paralympic Brazilian School Games, known as the Olimpiadas Escolares and Paralimpiadas Escolares respectively, as part of an agreement between the UK and Brazil in the lead up to hosting the 2012 and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games – this is the third time that a delegation has travelled to take part in the Paralimpiadas Escolares, after two teams of young British athletes visited Sao Paolo for the 2013 and 2014 Games.
Selection for the 2015 Games gives Kieran a good platform to push for a Paralympic place next year – two of the young athletes from last year’s team were selected for the senior British Athletics team in the IPC World Championships in Doha last month.
Kieran being fitted for his prosthetic leg in 2012
The experience of travelling to the Games will be ideal preparation for future international competitions, according to Katie Jones, Athletics Team Manager for the 2014 delegation.
She said: “The focus for us as a sport was about the competition, so I feel we were given a good representation of the international events we will travel through as the athletes progress and has provided a great experience for our upcoming talent.
“This has provided athletes a true feel for GB representation and will allow them to better prepare.”
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