Adrian Derbyshire

Adrian Derbyshire (born July 1, 1974) is a former British international wheelchair fencer and disability consultant. He was a member of the Great Britain Fencing Squad,[1] and British National Wheelchair Sabre champion of 2010 and has won 2 gold and 3 silver domestic medals.[2]

Derbyshire was a 2012 Olympic torch-bearer.[3]

He retired from International competitions in 2013 following a shoulder injury which prevented him from competing in the London 2012 Paralympic games[4] and a burglary in early 2013 in which most of his fencing equipment was stolen and his sports wheelchair was badly damaged.[1] Adrian has featured on several television shows promoting wheelchair fencing, including 'That Paralympic Show' and is featured in an ITV advertisement.

Adrian was awarded the Wire FM Adult Courage of the Year award, Warrington Disabled Sport's Personality of the Year and Cheshire Disabled Sport's Personality of the Year award.

Adrian is a trustee for Warrington Disability Partnership, an ambassador for Brainwave (a charity for children with learning disabilities)[5] and for Warrington Hate Crime campaign and Stop Hate UK. During 2014 Derbyshire hand-pedalled his trike across the UK to promote awareness of hate crime, and was presented with a Points of Light award by Prime Minister David Cameron.[6] He is a supporter and promoter of disability rights and gay rights, and visits schools coaching children in fencing and talking about disabilities.[7]

Adrian became a wheelchair user in 2008 following a brain hemorrhage. Doctors consequently discovered a rare brain tumor when attempting to treat the hemorrhage. Adrian constantly suffers from pain but is determined to raise disability awareness throughout the world.

References

  1. 1 2 "Burglary puts top disabled athlete's career in doubt". The Guardian
  2. ↑ "Paralympic star to hand-cycle 1,000 miles to help fight hate crime". Warrington Borough Council.
  3. ↑ "Paralympic wheelchair fencer fears career is over after £30k worth of equipment stolen". Manchester Evening News.
  4. ↑ "A clash of steel in Sheffield" Archived 2014-01-07 at the Wayback Machine.. Channel 4.
  5. ↑ "Paralympian ambassador for Brainwave". Daily Gazette.
  6. ↑ "Disability charity champ praised by PM". Warrington Guardian.
  7. ↑ "Paralympian Adrian Derbyshire inspires children on the Isle of Man". BBC News.
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