Paralympic hero Neil Fachie speaks about terrifying attack in Rio
Neil and his wife Lora were mugged right after wining silver at the World Championships
Last updated 3rd May 2024
Neil Fachie's speaking for the first time about the terrifying street attack on him and his wife in Brazil, right after they competed with each other for the first time.
Neil and Lora had won silver in the tandem team sprint in the Paracycling World Championships back in March, and were returning to their hotel along with teammate Corinne Hall.
They had their passports, bank cards and cash stolen - even the medals they had just won.
"I could feel someone grabbing my rucksack and flinging me around, so I got separated from the others. My wife Laura, who is totally blind, was also separated and she was panicking and unaware of what was going on.
"We could actually see the hotel from where we got attacked - it's just outside the security gates - and there was supposed to be a police presence, the governing body UCI had supposedly arranged for that.
"Of course, it was stepped up after the attack - and it was nice to see they were there then - but it was frustrating from my point of view."
Lora pulled out the championships in the wake of the attack, but Neil took gold in the men's tandem 1k time trial just two days after it happened.
"We wanted to get that win partly because of the mugging, to say 'you're not going to keep me down.'
"Getting that win was one of the more emotional ones I've had for a while. I didn't really realise I felt that way until we'd won the gold and a bit of emotion came out at that point."
Hear all the latest news from the North East of Scotland on the hour, every hour, at Northsound 1. Listen on FM, via our Northsound app, on your DAB radio, online at Northsound1.co.uk, or say ‘Play Northsound 1’ on your Smart Speaker.