‘It shouldn’t be real’ – Jack Smith’s route to wheelchair rugby Paralympic gold

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Jack Smith swapped one rugby code for another after he was paralysed whilst playing rugby union and, after taking up wheelchair rugby, he is now a Paralympic champion. Smith – who has had cancer twice – was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 16. Two weeks later he broke his neck playing rugby and was paralysed. Determined to still be involved in sport, he took-up wheelchair rugby and he tells Sportshour’s Caroline Barker how he fell in love with the excitement of the sport which is played indoor by mixed teams. In 2020 – the year the Tokyo Paralympics were scheduled to be held before they were postponed – Smith’s cancer returned and he started chemotherapy. He then made history twelve months later when he was part of the first ever Great Britain wheelchair rugby to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games. Image: Jack Smith holding up his Great Britain wheelchair rugby vest. (Photo courtesy of Jack Smith)