AccessAble are thrilled to announce that GB Wheelchair Basketballer, Paralympian, World and European Silver Medalist Sophie Carrigill will be working with us as an ambassador to raise awareness of the essential work we do to help disabled people, carers and anyone who needs to know about accessibility.

Read more about Sophie below.

Hi, I’m Sophie Carrigill and I play Wheelchair Basketball for Great Britain. I’m joining forces with AccessAble to share some of my experiences of travelling all over the country and the world! I hope in doing so, I can inspire more disabled people to live their lives to the fullest without feeling held back by barriers and educate business’s in how they can best adapt to be inclusive.

So, a bit about me and what brings me here… I was in a car accident in 2010 which resulted in life threatening abdominal injuries that nearly cost me my life. Thankfully, I was in safe hands and my life was saved! However, I was left with a spinal cord injury meaning that I’m now a full-time chair user. Don’t get me wrong, this injury was completely life changing. It was a long road to recovery, knowing the whole time that I would never go back to the confident 16-year- old, non-disabled girl who loved to dance, play every sport imaginable and lived a happy, healthy life. Nevertheless, I worked hard to get back to the life I was accustomed to and with amazing support from my friends and family it wasn’t long before I was back playing sport.

I suppose, as they say, the rest is history. I was quickly scouted by the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Team… who saw some potential in me even though when I first started playing, I was absolutely terrible! And since 2013 I’ve been part of the team, competing in European Championships, World Championships and the Rio 2016 Paralympics which was one of the best experiences of my life. We are now ranked 2^nd in the world and in training for the Tokyo Paralympics coming up in just 10 months! I’m so excited to see what the team can do, hopefully bringing home a medal which has never been done before by the Women’s Team!

Alongside basketball, I’ve done an Undergraduate and Masters Degree both in Sports Psychology. Being educated in this area has really helped with my athletic career and I’ve loved having something else to focus on. Some of my other passions are related to the work I’ll be doing with AccessAble… I absolutely love to travel and I’m a firm believer that my disability should never stop me doing anything I want. I love exploring new places in cities close by and also going abroad as far away and remote as possible to find all those hidden gems! Just because you may have a disability, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to do these things too… I want to show that anything is possible, maybe just with a bit of forward planning and an open mind!