“Finding out I was going and everything that has happened since then has been amazing and ridiculous.” “I had been part of the squad but had never really been selected to play until then,” he said.
In 2021 Jack eventually achieved his life’s goal of playing on the world’s biggest stage, selected to play for Team GB in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, where the team brought home the gold. Studying PE and biology at Bede at the time, of his sport he said: “There was nothing else I wanted to do. Hardly able to move the chair he admitted in the early days he didn’t show much talent, but he loved the rough and tumble of being back in the game. He said: “The accident happened in the January, and I first tried wheelchair rugby in September.” He suggested I try wheelchair rugby.”Īfter months in hospital, Jack spoke of the appeal of being on the rugby pitch. In hospital there was a guy, Shaun Lacey from the Spinal Injuries Association, who came around to talk about life after injury. He said: “Sport had always been massive to me.
Paralysed from the chest down after breaking his neck in a random rugby accident aged just 16, he had to build a new way of life. While he admitted, despite the silverware, the disappointment of a defeat does hurt, he said: “As a life-long rugby fan it was an amazing experience, getting to play at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium where I have watched so many big games on TV.”įor Jack, who has twice battled cancer in his life, it is yet another example of how you should never let setbacks stop you from achieving your goals, a message he was keen to share with sport students during his visit to Billingham’s Bede Sixth Form College. On the back of Team GB’s silver win at the Wheelchair Rugby European Championships this month, the 31-year-old from Sedgefield spoke of his disappointment at being pipped at the post by France for the second year running. Paralympic gold medallist and former Bede student Jack Smith MBE paid a visit to his former college where he shared his experiences at the height of his game.
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