Sportsman’s flight to pursue his Paralympic dream (From York Press)

Sportsman’s flight to pursue his Paralympic dream

7:32am Saturday 9th March 2013 in News

A DISABLED sportsman from York is flying to Florida today for the next stage of a journey he hopes will lead him to Paralympic glory.

Tiaan Bosch, 32, from Woodthorpe, will spend a week in the US state, when he will be measured for a racing wheelchair designed specifically for him. The chair will then be made and should be ready by the time he leaves on Friday.

He says having the same work done in Britain could cost £500 to £800 more and, crucially, take between three and seven months. “I don’t have three months; I want to be racing in three months’ time,” he said.

As previously reported in The Press, Tiaan was a promising runner before a motorcycle accident left him paraplegic at the age of 17. He was inspired to take up wheelchair racing seriously by watching last summer’s Olympics and Paralympics, but presently can only train using a borrowed chair for one hour a week.

He needs a chair designed specifically for him and which he can use to train three or four days a week, with the aim of competing in races by the summer. After that his targets include the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Tiaan said: “I want to thank everyone who has supported me so far.”