KIDS can be so cruel. And for that Martin Perry remains forever grateful. “My brothers used to put me in goals at football as they thought there was no chance I could save the ball as I had no hands. But it just made me more determined to prove them wrong.”
It is an attitude that serves him well to this day. Perry was born with congenital limb deformity, a condition that left him with only one fully-formed limb. Missing both hands and half of his left leg, however, did nothing to dilute either his competitive edge or his passion for sport. The gentle teasing of his siblings brought out the best in both. Now he has a place at the Paralympics in his sights.
“Sport for me growing up was just fun,” said the 24 year-old from Paisley. “I had three older brothers and we were always out playing football or rugby or some other sport.
“It was always a time where I could disregard my disability and just enjoy myself. That’s instilled a very competitive edge in me and I’ve got to thank my family for that.
“My brothers never treated me any differently when we were kids and that’s helped make me who I am today. There was no special treatment or any kind of leeway. That made it easier for me to get on with life.”
A visit to the London Olympics in 2012 opened his eyes to the opportunities that existed for para-athletes. Unsure initially about which sport to focus on, Perry tried them all before alighting on table tennis. The early days, though, weren’t easy.
“I was absolutely dreadful at the start,” he admits with a laugh. “And we had to improvise a lot. The very first time I played I tried to pick the bat up with both arms but I quickly realised that gave me a limited reach. So I knew I had to try something else. The first arm attachment I had was a dishcloth with Velcro straps on it to wrap it round my arm and then wedge the bat into it. It was hilariously bad. But that at least allowed me to play with one arm.”
Technology made it easier still, with a new leg giving him greater speed around the table and the creation of a prosthetic arm removing the need for tea towels and sticky tape.
“The only upper body prosthetic I use is for table tennis,” he reveals. “It’s a mould of my right forearm with my bat attached on the end, and it fits on to my arm with a silicon sleeve. I have a prosthetic leg that I use day to day but a Glasgow firm called HCI Viocare provided me with a specially-designed table tennis leg that helps get me around the table quicker and gives me a lot more stability. Both of these have made a huge difference.”
Moving to Sheffield in 2015 to train full-time with the GB squad has allowed him to devote everything to table tennis. The dream now is to qualify for next year’s Paralympics in Tokyo.
“When I first moved down here it was a bit of an eye-opener,” he admits. “I went from training two nights a week at Drumchapel Table Tennis Club to twice a day in Sheffield with the Paralympic team. We get access to sports psychologists, nutritionists, physios – just anything an elite athlete would need.
“The Paralympic Games is the pinnacle for our sport and it would mean so much to be a part of that. To qualify I need to finish in the top eight in the world and at the moment I’m ranked 22nd. It all starts properly at the Italian Open in the next few weeks and then I’m off to the Spanish Open.
“I should know by March 2020 if I’ve qualified so it’s set to be quite a full-on year. I’m trying to raise as much money as I can to travel all around the world to compete in as many events as I can to get my ranking to the height that it needs to be.”
He is backed by Brand Oath, the Edinburgh-based sports marketing agency, but has also launched a Buy a Mile campaign where donors can help support his journey to Tokyo.
“The funds I’m trying to raise myself are to cover the things the team just can’t afford,” he adds. “I’ve had a lot of support from back home and that means a lot knowing they want to help me get over the line and make it to the Paralympics. This is my first full qualification cycle as part of the team which gives me the opportunity to go to a lot more tournaments and hopefully get over the line. I’m really looking forward to giving it my best shot.”
That much we can be sure of.
Martin can be sponsored at https://martin-perry.co.uk/#buy-a-mile
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