I’ve lost both my legs, but now I want to compete in the Paralympics for Team GB in archery!

David Drake, a bilateral amputee has suffered mentally due to countless surgeries but now he is pushing to become a Paralympian is his beloved sport of archery.

David, a 49-year-old former personal trainer from Preston, has had difficulty walking due to smaller and weaker muscles in his legs since the the age of 20.

Due to this David has undergone a series of life changing surgeries over the years as doctors have attempted to fix his legs using metal rods into a place where he could walk properly.

Unfortunately, after years of discomfort, David’s surgeon Mr.McAvoy explained how the metal was coming away from one of the legs and further action had to be taken.

So on October 18 2018, David had to have his first amputation of his left leg but he was determined to not let it defeat him as he set out to challenge himself physically.

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He said  “Losing the first leg wasn’t as bad, I mean I definitely went through a sort of panic stage but I came out of that pretty quick.

“I tried to not let it get me down and wanted to challenge myself so I managed to do a 100 mile bike ride for prostate cancer, raising £3500 in the process.

“I attend the Limb Centre in Preston regularly and the people are so amazing because they knew I was taking part in the bike ride so they made me a custom leg piece to fit into the bike.

However,  two years ago doctors had more bad news for David as they said how the same problems were present in his other leg due to the titanium rod.

This meant that he would have to go through his second amputation, this time on his right leg.

But being a former personal trainer and fitness fanatic, David has always turned to sports as a form of distraction and his amputations didn’t stop that.

He said: “I went through all that process again of losing another leg leading to me going through some quite dark times as any person would. “In January of this year, I saw on Instagram that the Royal British Legion (RBL) were doing a 50 mile run over the month  for the poppy appeal.

“I thought to myself. I’ll give that a go as it’s something I’ve wanted to do even though I’m not the fastest of runners!”

“I managed to complete the run whilst doing half running, half walking spread over the four weeks whilst raising just over £600 for the appeal.

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Prior to the loss of his legs six years ago, David had found a love for archery after joining his father in law for a casual session one day at Archery World in Clayton Brook.

It was during this session that David realised he has a skill for the sport and enjoyed training with the best equipment time and time again.

Yet after his surgeries, David found himself in a bad financial position meaning he had to sell all of his bows and leave his passion behind.

But recently David wanted to get back nto something he loved and archery was the clear choice.

He said: “One day, I just gave my head a shake and thought it’s time to get back to doing something and going back to Archery World was what I needed.

“Archery has always been something that I’ve enjoyed as it is self-disciplined and a sense of escapism that I feel is therapeutic and now I’ve even got a four times world champion coaching me!

“John Stubbs is also a bilateral amputee who is now retired but used to compete at the highest level and is now my coach.”

Unfortunately David wouldn’t be able to make the Tokyo Paralympics due to missing a certain certification but he is confident about his abilities and his aim is to reach the next event.

He is also currently looking for any sponsorships for his archery endeavours in his journey to the Paralympics.

David hopes his story can inspire others who are going through tough times to show them that they do whatever they put their mind to.

He said: “I don’t dwell on the past anymore and instead I look towards things I can aim for in the future as I am quite stubborn so I will stick at something until I complete it like the 100 mile bike ride.

“When people see me doing these types of physical challenges I hope I can inspire them and make them think if I can do it well why can’t I do it.

“You can do anything when you put your mind do it, whether you have legs or no legs because there maybe someone in a worse position pushing themselves to do these things.”