Aaron Phipps
Aaron Phipps (born 7 April 1983)[1] is a British wheelchair rugby player.
Birth name | Aaron Phipps | ||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 7 April 1983 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Southampton | ||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Vicky Phipps | ||||||||||||||||
Children | Ella Phipps | ||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||
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He is part of the Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team and competed in Wheelchair rugby at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, Great Britain.[2]
On 7 January 1999 Aaron contracted Meningitis C. and Meningococcal sepsis. As a result of this illness Aaron was in a controlled coma for 2 weeks. Following this, in March, it was required that his legs and most of his fingers be amputated. In total Aaron spent a year in hospital, receiving treatment and recovering.[3]
In 2007 Aaron began to get involved in wheelchair races and raised money for a Meningitis charity by completing a 10 km race in Totton. He has also completed 2 London Marathons (2008 & 2009)[4][5] and in 2009 was ranked 4th UK Male in both the London Marathon and the Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon.[6]
On 23 May 2016 Phipps became the first disabled British person to scale Mount Kilimanjaro[7] During large parts of the ascent Phipps was forced to climb on his hands and knees because the wheelchair wasn't capable of traversing the difficult terrain but was able to complete the climb without any assistance.
References
- "Athlete Profiles". paralympics.org.uk. British Paralympic Association. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- Hudson, Elizabeth. "Paralympics: 10 to watch". BBC Disability Sport. BBC. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- "Official Site". Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- "Flora London Marathon 2008 Results". Archived from the original on 24 April 2008.
- "Flora London Marathon 2009 Results".
- "Adidas Silverstone Half Marathon 2009 Race Report". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
- Nagesh, Ashitha. "Paralympian becomes first man to scale Mt Kilimanjaro in wheelchair". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2016.