Dillon Labrooy has already achieved more than his parents could have dreamed of, even before he lines up for the final of the 1,500m wheelchair race at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday (April 10).
The 20-year-old was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but a birth defect meant he was paraplegic. Then, in 2002, when he was just five years old, his parents brought him to the UK and settled in Guildford .
"We just wanted him to go to a normal school and have a normal life," his mother, Dee, told Get Surrey .
"In Sri Lanka, there are no facilities for wheelchair users, and definitely not sport, but when we came here we didn't imagine he would be an athlete."
Once in Guildford, he attended St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Merrow , where his athletic ability was soon spotted.
Dee told Get Surrey she couldn't thank the school enough. She said: "They were great. They picked up on his sporting talent and we got funding from the Variety Club for a sports wheelchair.
"But that was made for sports like tennis and basketball. He played basketball from 12 until 17, he played in at the junior national level and for a club."
Dillon Labrooy on his way to represent England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Image: Dee Labrooy)
He might have stayed with basketball, but for the heroic performance of David Weir at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Weir's performance, which secured him four gold medals, inspired Dillon to give wheelchair racing a try. He went to a trial session at Surrey Sports Park, where he was spotted as a potential athlete, in part due to his long arms.
From then on, he started training at the Weir Archer Academy in Camberley, which was founded by David Weir and his coach, Jenny Archer, to support and coach disabled athletes.
"Since then, there was no stopping him," said Dee, "He moved into the top 10 in the UK within a year and now he is in the top five."
David Weir's four gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games inspired Dillon to take up wheelchair racing (Image: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Hopefully, it will all pay off. On Monday (April 9) he qualified for the final of the 1,500m along with fellow English athletes Richard Chiassaro and Nathan Maguire. He will also face Canadian Tristan Smyth and Australians Kurt Fearnley and Jake Lappin in the final on Tuesday (April 10) at 11.27am UK time
Dee said: "It's been an amazing ride. We're thanking God every day for this, from going to a normal school to doing sport at an elite level.
"Never in a million years would I have thought it was possible."
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