Paralympic legend reveals hurt of being “the only disabled kid” in school

Paralympic legend and world record holder Aled Davies has spoken movingly about how he didn’t want to be seen as disabled during his schooldays.

According to Aled, he felt different because he was “the only disabled kid” at his school in Bridgend,  and admits he didn’t wear a pair of shorts until he was 16, hiding his leg “at every opportunity”.

His open and candid conversation over a tasty curry dinner helped inspire a group taking part in a pioneering reality television programme, Tŷ Ffit, on S4C.

The group of five participants or clients meet up over a period of seven weekends in an idyllic house on the Anglesey coast.

They focus on improving their physical, mental and emotional well-being with the help of mentors – including Aled and Wales rugby legend Shane Williams – and experienced experts guiding them every step of the way.

Emotional well-being

During the show that’s presented by Lisa Gwilym and broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday evenings they focus on improving the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the five clients.

Aled travelled to Anglesey to meet the group and brought his extensive collection of medals he has won at various competitions, one of them was the silver medal he won at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

He said: “It’s not the colour I wanted to bring home unfortunately.

“I wanted to give the best possible performance on the world’s biggest stage, but I’ve been injured and it was hard. I show the medal to anyone but the people close to me know how difficult the journey has been since the Commonwealth Games The day will come when I look back with pride on the (2024) Games but not yet.”

Asked by participant Gwawr Job-Davies, from Old Colwyn, how he’ll get through the disappointment Aled said he remembers the 2012 London Paralympics.

“Those Games changed disability sport for ever. Walking out before 80,000 people was realising every dream I had had since a young child. It was a chance to show everyone what you could do despite a disability and hope children out there could see and say ‘I can do that’.”

Gwawr said later she had really enjoyed listening to Aled.

“He has so much confidence in himself it is just so inspiring,” she said.

But Aled said the confidence has not always been evident.

“I didn’t wear shorts until I was 16 years old, I always hid my legs. I didn’t do PE or sports because I knew I was different.

“When I was 14 or 15 my mother saw something in a newspaper a disability sports club where they did swimming. I’d never heard of anything like that.

“I remember walking into the swimming pool and saw so many people with disabilities and I thought all right, there are people like me and I’m lucky because there are people with worse disabilities than me.

“I won the Welsh Schools Championship and others were saying ‘I can’t believe I’ve been beaten by someone with just one leg’. Something changed then,” he said.

Hemimelia

Aled was born with hemimelia, a condition where a limb is missing or partially formed, affecting the bones and soft tissue in his right leg.

He developed a passion for sport and in 2005 he dedicated himself to shot put and discus.

In 2012, Aled set a World Record in the F42 shot put, and at that year’s Paralympic Games, he claimed bronze in the shot put and gold in the discus.

The following year Aled took the World Championship gold in both the shot put and discus in Lyon. He won double gold in his home country at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in the shot put and discus. This followed his silver medal in the F42-44 discus from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he represented Wales.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games Aled not only took gold in the F42 shot but also broke the Paralympic record. His success continued in 2020 Games when he won another gold in the men’s F63 shot. Most recently, at the 2024 Paris Paralympics he added a silver medal in the T63 shot to his impressive collection.

Passing some of the medals he has won around the dining table Aled said there was a story behind each one.

“And so much hard work had gone into winning each one,” he said.

Surgery

Aled is currently struggling with a nagging injury and faces further surgery in a determined attempt to resolve the issue.

“Three weeks before the (2023) Commonwealth Games I was driving home and I felt a burning pain in my groin.

“It was diagnosed as Osteitis Pubis which comes from over training and is the most common career-ending injury in football and rugby. It was not something I wanted to hear,” he said.

Aled gritted his teeth at the Games in Birmingham and won gold. But following an extended period off the pain remained.

“The treatment before the Paralympics were injections into a joint between the pelvic bones but after Paris I had surgery which unfortunately wasn’t successful and hopefully further surgery will sort it for good,” he said.

Aled added he has targeted next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and is determined to do well and win Gold for Wales.

“Many people are asking me about my future but I haven’t finished yet. There’s still a lot of energy and I’ve got a fire in my belly to come back and achieve one hundred per cent fitness and compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. I’ve unfinished business in the city. I competed in the same games in 2014 and didn’t win gold,” he said.

Challenges

Aled is Dylan Edwards’ mentor in the series. Originally from Bontnewydd near Caernarfon but now living in Cardiff the 38-year-old Video Games Analyst was impressed by the way Aled had overcome the challenges in his life.

“I thought to myself if he can do this then so can I.

“One of the things that came across clearly was the way Aled turned the negatives into a positive,” he said.

Series producer Siwan Haf said Aled was an inspiration for all the group.

She said: “He spoke candidly about his disappointment winning only a silver medal at the Paris Paralympics and spoke openly about his condition and how he has battled to overcome life’s difficulties and make the best of his life. He is a true inspiration.”

Siwan believes a programme like Tŷ Ffit has not been shown before.

“Tŷ Ffit is more than a television programme but is about changing people’s lives for the better.

“During the programme they are extremely open about their own mental health and we are very grateful to them for that. It has been transformational for all five of them and we hope viewers will continue to watch the programme and follow their journey.

“We’re also hopeful that the viewers will pick up some hints and tips about diet and exercise which they can adopt into their own lives.”

Tŷ Ffit is broadcast on S4C every Tuesday at 9pm. It is also available for streaming on S4C Clic, BBC iPlayer and other platforms. English subtitles are available. You can also follow the exclusive Tŷ Ffit plan on the website: www.s4c.cymru/tyffit