Wilmslow High School was delighted to receive a visit from Paralympian Sarah McPhee on Friday, 13th June.
Sarah is a Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball player who competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. On her Paralympic debut, she was part of the team that secured a 7th place finish, Paralympics GB's best performance in women's Wheelchair Basketball since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Sarah's visit was the prize for a team of four students from Wilmslow High School who won an 'Inclusion Competition'. This involved them going into Wilmslow town centre and reviewing facilities at a restaurant, bank, the library and the station to determine what improvements could be made to make the facilities more inclusive. Matt Braybrooke, Rob Stiegler, Hannah Stanyer and Vicki Cragg then travelled to London to give a presentation.
Several local primary schools attended the event on Friday, 13th June, which was organised by Macclesfield School Sports Partnership. The day started with Sarah McPhee giving a talk and Wheelchair Basketball demonstration to children from St Anne's Fulshaw, Lacey Green Academy, Dean Oaks and Dean Valley in Macclesfield who joined students from Wilmslow High.
Afterwards the students took part in Paralympic sport competitions, which included wheelchair basketball, seated volleyball, goal ball and botccia and had the opportunity to meet Sarah who presented them all with certificates for taking part.
Sarah was keen to find a new sport and challenge after she was diagnosed with cancer and had a metal plate placed in her upper leg which restricts her from playing any running sport. As a very active individual and a former netball and basketball player, Sarah made rapid progress to be selected for London 2012. She now works as a Fundraising Officer with Cancer Research UK.
Speaking at Wilmslow High School, Sarah said "If you believe in yourself and have got the right mentality you can achieve whatever you want to achieve. You just need to have a goal and the desire and ambition to achieve it. If things don't go your way initially you will find another way."
Matt Braybooke describes Sarah's visit as a great day, saying "It has been great to learn about her experiences and how she has achieved them. She told us that practise makes it easy and if you practise enough it just becomes second nature. She was very inspiring."
Gemma Tinsley, teacher of special educational needs, added "The day could not have gone better. It has been fantastic. Sarah has been truly inspiring for all the students and teachers."
