Hi, my name is Lucas and I am 11 years old. I was born with spina bifida, I am a full-time wheelchair user. I am a member of Parafed Waikato and part of their Youth Club. 

My favourite sport is push rim wheelchair racing. I love it because it is fun and you can get some speed up, also I am with other people who are like me. 

When I was young, I once saw Paralympics on TV and they were push rim wheelchair racing and I thought one day I would like to do that too. Last year Parafed Waikato lent me a push rim wheelchair which was like a dream come true. Alan McDonald has been giving a group of four of us training at Porritt Stadium once a week. I have really enjoyed this. Thank you, Alan and Cathy, for organising this.

I have two places I can ride on near our home, one is the path from Leamington to lake Karapiro and back again, and the other one is a cul-de-sac opposite our house. Especially since there are no cars around at the moment because of the lockdown.

Just recently, I have grown out of the push rim wheelchair, so Cathy organised with Nick from Invacare to purchase a new Preliminator for me to use. This was kindly sponsored by Brendan Mes who is another Parafed Waikato member and he is also a push rim wheelchair athlete. 

If you are like me, you should have a go!

Lucas Pedersen