Ben Lucas is now a lead disability adviser for ACC. He says the Para Sport Collective is making a huge difference.
Ben Lucas says there is no event in the world like the Paralympics.
“Every time, I come away from the Paralympics just a little bit different,” says the 58-year-old.
“Whether I’m there in person or whether I’m watching it back home. It’s just amazing.
“You’ve got ordinary, everyday Kiwis who have got extra challenges in life. To see what people can do with what they might be missing from a physical or cognitive perspective, is absolutely amazing.”
As the New Zealand team get ready for Paris, Lucas says there is no shortage of storylines.
The New Zealand team will try to back up an extraordinary effort from the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago when they came home with an impressive tally of 12 medals (six gold, three silver and three bronze).
Behind every story is a person who has shown incredible resilience and commitment.
“To see the likes of Anna Grimaldi excelling in the long jump and heading to Paris trying to win her third gold medal in a row.
“To see Holly Robinson [women’s javelin F46] who I knew from when she was 12 years old, to become flag bearer in Rio and medal.
“And to see the likes of Scott Martlew [para canoe] who I first met a week after he got discharged from hospital. To follow the human stories. It just blows your mind and there are many more.”
New Zealand’s Paralympian No 99 should know.
The para athlete has been around the Paralympics for more than 30 years.
He has done it all. He competed for New Zealand for 10 years in wheelchair racing, and in that code has represented his country at two Paralympic Games.
He was the team captain for the New Zealand Paralympic Team at both the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
He was also chef de mission for the highly successful New Zealand Paralympic Team at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Lucas has been a board member and administrator. He was also chief executive of the NZ Spinal Trust.
He worked as sports development manager at ParaFed Canterbury and was instrumental in setting up the Academy Programme that supported and continues to support the success of many Canterbury para athletes.
“I have spent a huge amount of my life supporting this event and these athletes,” he says.
“To see someone come back to the village with a medal around their neck is just such a special moment. It’s awesome to shake their hand or give them a hug, because you know how much work has gone into achieving that medal.”
He has a couple of standout highlights — being the flag bearer at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney and leading the New Zealand team out to a sold-out Homebush Stadium was one of them.
The other was when Mark Inglis, who Lucas had supported in his Paralympics dream, won a silver medal in para-cycling in Sydney. He came back to the village to find his mentor.
“He put the medal around my neck and said: ‘This is just as much yours as it is mine mate’. It was such a proud moment. My heart just about burst through my chest.”
Lucas says sport is a powerful rehabilitation tool.
In 1989, when he was 24, Lucas crashed his motorbike into a U-turning van and broke his L3 lumbar vertebra, leaving him paralysed.
He has vivid memories of that day in Newmarket and the doctor letting him know he would never walk again.
He was admitted to the Auckland Spinal Unit and remembers the fear he felt going home.
“You wake up the next day and go ‘Oh, my God’ this is real. What’s my life going to be like, everything’s changed. And there is a real fear of the unknown.”
Lucas says a constant throughout his career was the incredible support he received from the community.
“They were so good to me. I was so proud to represent my region on the world stage. And when I won a bronze medal [in the wheelchair marathon at the 1994 Commonwealth Games] the support went to another level.
“I knew with that success came the responsibility to give back.”
He says getting into sport helped him immensely.
“Getting back into sport made me feel normal again. It gave me a sense of hope and purpose.”
Lucas now works for ACC as its lead disability adviser.
He is proud of the partnership it has with Paralympics NZ. ACC supports the pre high-performance initiative the Para Sport Collective.
It’s a three-year initiative created by PNZ that supports pre high-performance para athletes and coaches to achieve their goals, after a need was seen for greater support.
“I have heard nothing but good things about the Para Sport Collective,” he says.
“It is giving para athletes much-needed support and direction so they can chase their dream of one day becoming a Paralympian.”
He has simple advice for any New Zealanders with a disability who are considering chasing their Paralympics dream.
“Give it everything you have. There are no half-measures. If you want to be a Paralympian, you have to work incredibly hard and make some sacrifices to achieve that goal.
“In the end it’s worth it. I met some incredible people and have been all around the world with my sport and I am so grateful to have had those opportunities.”
Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
August 28 to September 8. Follow the Paralympics live on TVNZ.
For more information: www.paralympics.org.nz
– SunLive