Scots teacher paralysed in 2018 to compete at Paralympics

A PE teacher who was paralysed three years ago will represent Team GB at the Paralympic Games.

During her time teaching at Dingwall Academy, Melanie Woods was hit by a car while cycling near Ardross, 30 miles away from Inverness.

She was left paralysed from the waist down and now needs a wheelchair full time.

However Melanie, who now lives in Anniesland, was determined not to let the accident get to her and will be one of 33 Scottish athletes taking part in games.

After only competing since 2019, she'll be participating as a wheelchair racer in the T54 400 and 800m races.

'Finding strength I didn't know I had'

In January 2018, the 27-year-old was sustained life changing injuries due to the crash.

She broke her leg, fractured her pelvis, but most significantly broke her back and damaged her spinal cord.

Melanie explains how she managed to get through it.

She said: "I was a very active person, played a number of sports and loved being outdoors so adjusting to what I perceived what my life might now look like was pretty difficult.

“Also trying to manage my mum, my dad, my family and friends, all their disappointment in the fact that my life might not look the same as it used to.

“I think you find the strength you don’t know you have.

“I just took it on because I had no choice, I thought I could either half heartedly do this or I can set my mind to it to being as strong as I can be in the circumstances."

Excited to try new things

Melanie says the dream of competing as a para athlete gave her a goal to focus on during rehabilitation in hospital.

She added: "I saw a lot of parasports on the TV and watched a lot of different things that I probably not paid that much attention to before.

"When I came out of hospital, I was just really excited to try new things and see what’s out there.

"I started training with a group in Glasgow and there was a really enthusiastic coach there who was willing to give me the time, help me put the hours in and get access to equipment.

"It allowed me to put a lot of time in from the beginning."

Team GB selection "massive surprise"

The weekend before final section for the Paralympics, Melanie managed to achieve a "massive personal best" and only found out last month she was heading to Tokyo.

“It was just a massive surprise, I just couldn’t believe it," she said.

"Quite late on to find out three weeks later you’ll be going to Tokyo

"Definitely didn’t see myself there this soon.

"If anything it’s become a massive bonus and a real big excitement that with this little time in the sport I’ve managed to get myself on the plane to go there, makes me excited for the future and where I can progress to.

“Just having everything cancelled last year meant I could actually just train and build my strength up and get more confident in the chair.

"When it was postponed I actually didn’t see it as a target, it’s come from no where, but it’s definitely made it possible."

While Melanie would be thrilled with a podium finish at her first games, she's primarily focused on ensuring she puts in a good performance.

She said: "At this point, I’m glad to be there, I’m excited, I want to try and enjoy it and just do what I’ve done this season and get a performance in that’s as close to my best.

"I think I’d be really proud of that considering the stage I’m at in my career, anything plus that is a bonus."

The 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo starts tomorrow.

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