When Locks Heath dad Vince Barton had a life-changing accident that has meant he is now permanently in a wheelchair, he decided not to let it get him down.
Vince Barton
Instead the father-of-two has co-created a wheelchair rugby club for like-minded disabled sport enthusiasts in the south.
He and Richard Cartwright have developed a club called Team Solent Sharks. And at an official launch of the group on Saturday (March 2) the players will challenge Team GB’s wheelchair rugby club to a match at the Sharks’ training ground in Southampton.
Vince, 49, said he finds the game such a thrill and he hoped people would come along to the free taster session and to watch the game.
“We are in a wheelchair that looks like something out of Robot Wars,” he said. “We do end up going full pelt at each other or ramming each other to get the ball off each other. We are allowed to do that.
“That’s all part of the fun.
“It’s our first competitive match. We’ve only played within our own team up until now.”
Vince, of Church Road, had always been a sports fan, but it was after a road accident in January 2009 that rugby and sailing became a strong influence in his life and recovery.
Cycling from Hilsea train station to work, as a quality assurance manager at ENL Ltd, Vince travelled across a roundabout and was hit by a car driver, which crushed part of his spinal cord.
(Pic: Robert Andrlik) Richard Cartwright training hard
“A motorist didn’t see me and went into the side of me,” he said.
“I remember being there and then I found myself face down on the floor. It was a sensation that my legs were floating because of the fact that I couldn’t feel the ground because I’d lost the sensation in my legs.
“There was a terrible sensation in my hands. It felt like they were broken but they hadn’t been.”
He was treated in Queen Alexandra Hospital and a special spinal unit in Salisbury Hospital. His condition, tetraplegia, is known as an incomplete injury, meaning he has limited feeling and movement in his legs and fingers.
Surgeons cut open his back to see his spinal cord and placed metal and plastic in his neck to secure the spine and stop it from worsening.
Vince became interested in developing a wheelchair rugby club after he helped out his wife Jill’s class at Cams Hill School with a project to design a wheelchair for a sport of choice.
From there it spurred Vince and Richard, who lives in Southampton, to create Team Solent Sharks, which formed in August and trains at St Mary’s Sport Centre in Southampton.
Vince, who plays a defensive position, said: “I was researching it on YouTube and found wheelchair rugby and it seemed exciting to do. There was nothing like this in this area. The nearest ones are in Kent and Plymouth. So we assumed there would be interest. It turned out there was some interest.
(Pic: Robert Andrlik) Team Solent Sharks prepare for the competition
“There are so many disability sports now. There is always something you can do and try to excel in. There is no reason why you can’t be good at something whatever your disability. I think the Paralympics proved there is so much you can do.”
At the launch event, people can try out the sport in a taster session between 1pm and 2pm. The match will start at 2.30pm.
Team Solent Sharks will have two high profile athletes on their side who have recently joined the club – Paralympic Team GB stars Aaron Phipps and Ross Morrison.
Wheelchair rugby works on a point system based on the severity of disabilities with four people from each team on the pitch at any one time.
The event is being supported by the national governing body Great British Wheelchair Rugby.
For more details visit www.solentsharks.org.uk.