Event celebrates the Paralympics at the birthplace in Aylesbury

A number of Paralympic athletes will also be attending

Author: Beth GavaghanPublished 9th Sep 2021

The Paralympic Games success is being celebrated today at Stoke Mandeville hospital as Team GB has come second in the overall medal table.

The occasion is being marked in the very place the games began, and gold medal winning Paralympians will also be attending the event; making it even more special.

Jody Cundy, Phoebe Paterson Pine, Steph Reid, Ali Jawad and Tom Hamer are all set to join, and will also be visiting a school for children with disabilities. Their hope is that it will inspire future potential Paralympians.

They will be putting on a special PE lesson and telling them about what it was like to compete in Tokyo.

Following the closing ceremony of the Paralympics in Tokyo, a number of athletes will be coming back to the UK this week to celebrate their achievements of coming second as a team in the overall medal table.

The Chief Executive of the National Paralympic Trust Victoria Hope-Walker said:

"It's really exciting and it's really appropriate because Stoke Mandeville is the place where the Paralympics began. It's where Doctor Guttman set up the first specialist spinal unit in the world and the Paralympics was born out of that."

With the county already having a strong sense of pride for the games, Hope-Walker noted the importance of events which mark the Paralympics' heritage. She added:

"If it wasn't for Buckinghamshire's residents and the staff who lived locally and general public who did so much volunteering in the early games then it never would have happened."

Hope-Walker also emphasised the importance of sharing their stories with younger generations. She said:

"When you tend to meet a Paralympian it's something about their outlook and positivity and the way they look at life that can inspire. Rather than inspiring somebody to necessarily become an athlete it might inspire them just to have that determination."