Young Scots disabled swimmer meets Oscar Pistorius

Monday 12 November 2012

A young disabled swimmer had his dream come true when he met Paralympic hero Oscar Pistorius.

Oscar Pistorius celebrates after winning the gold medal in the T44 400m at the Paralympics 2012

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Adam Donnachie, 11, from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who was born with both his lower legs missing, said talking to Pistorius, nicknamed "Blade Runner", was the "best thing that has ever happened" to him.

The pair met at the University of Strathclyde's National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics, where the Olympic and Paralympic runner was on a visit to tour the facilities and meet patients and staff.

His parting words to Adam, who trains four times a week with the Scottish junior disability swim team, were: "I'll see you in Rio." Adam said: "It was the time of my life getting to meet him, a dream come true. He's my hero because he just never gives up. "Meeting him was the best thing that's ever happened to me. "I swim with Scotland just now, we train four times a week, and I'd like to follow in Oscar's footsteps by going to the Paralympics.It's one of my goals to make it to Rio in 2016." The schoolboy's grandmother, Nina Reeves, 59, said Adam was "stunned into silence" by the meeting with his hero. "If there was only one person in the world that Adam could meet, he would have chosen Oscar," she said. "He's followed him ever since he came on to the scene. "I think Oscar was the first person that Adam identified as being just like him - because he has two prosthetic limbs as well, in the same place. "Most of the people he meets at the clinic only have one, and they are normally a bit older, so he can really relate to Oscar, who is a bit younger. "I don't really think we could put into words just how much this means." South African Pistorius, 25, who is to compete in the 400 metre event at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, made history in London this year by becoming the first double leg amputee to compete at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Pistorius said: "There are a lot of youngsters here (at the centre) that I can identify with. "When I was young I used to go to a prosthetics centre and I spent a lot of time there - when kids are growing, their braces have to change as they put on muscle and weight. "Some of these kids spend a lot of time here and they form great relationships with their therapists, which is quite special. "I think when you see some of the kids here, they've really come to find this as a second home." Pistorius also met Sophie Amber, 16, a keen dancer and gymnast from Glasgow, who has both legs amputated below the knee. "It was really good to meet him," she said. "I watched him during the Games and he's someone I look up to." Pistorius is being made an honorary doctor of the University of Strathclyde for outstanding sporting success during a ceremony today. "It is a great honour, to receive a doctorate is very humbling," he said. "My sister is a little bit angry at me - she studied for five years and she's not got one. "When I told her, she was kind of happy for me but also a little bit jealous." The athlete said he was looking forward to getting back on the track in the next two weeks, to start training for the 2013 season.

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Young Scots disabled swimmer meets Oscar Pistorius

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