Active Summer Fun: 'Get out there and try different things'
A new participation campaign created by the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) and National Disability Sport Organisations (NDSOs) is encouraging more disabled people to find out and play out over summer. Active Summer Fun -#ActiveSummerFun on social media - is an exciting new campaign that aims to support more disabled people to find ways to be active during the warmer months.
This summer we will be hearing from various disabled people, who lead active lifestyles in all sorts of ways. We hear how they are expecting the next few months to be very busy!
Today, water sports and skiing enthusiast Cassie Cava talks to us. You may recognise Cassie's story as she is one of the faces of Sport England's campaign- This Girl Can. She discusses how the last 10 months has transformed her life and shown her so many new sports to enjoy.
Cassie’s Active Summer Fun:
I'm 23 and have always been active. I used to swim a lot as a child, and the whole family loved to cycle.
I have just started competing in triathlons, including two paratriathlons. They are really, really good fun. I get a huge buzz from it, a lot of adrenaline. I am pushing my body to the extreme, and getting through it gives me a sense of satisfaction.
Over the past few years everything to do with my body has been out of my control, but now being able to exercise, get strong and get fit is all within my control and I like to push it. And with my new leg I like pushing myself to see what I can now achieve.
I broke my foot while walking up the stairs. It just went, with quite a major stress fracture. I had club feet when I was born and had lots of operations, and due to that it just kept breaking.
That was six years ago and I had it reconstructed at the time with an external fixator. But the fixator simply destroyed a lot of my foot and ankle, and I had lots more operations over five years to try and fix it. But they couldn’t manage anything, and I wanted to be active and get back into sport. I was unable to walk, let alone play or compete at anything, so I had it amputated in October.
I wear a prosthetic lower leg, and in the last 10 months life has been massively easier. I am in so much less pain and haven’t taken any painkillers for about eight months, ever since ending rehab.
I used to walk with a crutch and use a wheelchair for long distances, and now I never need to. I am working abroad currently, and I don’t need crutches or anything here. It’s been brilliant, and I am much more active.
I have tried a lot of different disability sports over the last 10 or so months. I snowboarded a bit, I love skiing and I gave rock-climbing a go once. That was fun – my head for heights is OK-ish. I did have a few moments!
I raced at the weekend in the Para Tri in Dorney and it was really cool, with so many people competing at different levels. It was a massive para-triathlon and I did the half-distance: 400m swim, a 10km cycle and 2.5km run. I had wanted to race it for a while, and I needed to come back from Italy to fix my leg and collect a few things and so I thought I’d do it. I don’t yet know my time but I was really pleased with how it went – I was second out of the water to someone who had just returned from a test event in Rio. That was pretty cool!
Sport is so much more accessible than it used to be, and you just have to find the opportunities. And the work of organisations like EFDS makes that search a lot easier. Don’t worry about what people are thinking about what you look like.
I will be competing in the Tri for Life in September. I would encourage people to get out there and try different things. I am finding it a really exciting time at the moment.
You can find out more about Active Summer Fun. Find out and play out this summer. LimbPower supports amputees and people with limb impairments to find the right sport and leisure activity for their needs and ability.
