Herefordshire marksman targets Paralympic successes (From Hereford Times)

Herefordshire marksman targets Paralympic successes

8:00am Monday 5th January 2009 in

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A HEREFORDSHIRE marksman has the Paralympics in his sights after surviving a life-threatening accident.

Mathew ‘Sidney’ Goodwin, from Almeley, has been paralysed from the chest down since a car accident 12 years ago.

But the 31-year-old farmer hasn’t let disability dominate his life – you’ll often find him on a tractor, while his other hobbies include quad bike racing, property development and clay-pigeon shooting.

Mathew – his friends call him Sidney – took up clay-pigeon shooting less than two years ago and recently won his first major competition.

The feat means he is now gunning to have the event included in the 2016 Paralympics, at which he wants to represent Britain.

It means 2009 could be another life-changing year for the farmer, who hopes to inspire others with his remarkable progress.

“I think it has been a blessing in disguise – there’s a lot of things I’m doing now that I wasn’t before,” he said.

“I started clay pigeon shooting just under two years ago and before that I was racing around on quad bikes.

“I also do a lot of properties up – I have to use tradesmen, obviously, but I do a lot of low level work and I bought a cottage and did that up. It’s surprising what you can do, and I’ve also been a farmer the whole time.”

Things were gloomy in January 1996 when he fractured three vertebrae in his spine.

Mathew, who was studying at Walford and North Shropshire College, was a front seat passenger in a Mini that overturned.

He spent 16 weeks in hospital but returned to complete his National Diploma in Agriculture.

He admits it was difficult to adapt to farm life, but friends and family helped him through.

“After overcoming the disability, especially during the early stages, getting into vehicles was a challenge,” he said. “Many people might think that riding quad bikes and driving tractors would be impossible when paralysed, but I achieved this in the first year.”

Mathew, who attended Lady Hawkins School, Kington, is fiercely competitive and that attitude has helped his recovery.

His passion for clay pigeon shooting developed after a stag weekend. In November he won his first title, defeating opponents from the UK and Finland in only his second clay shooting competition.

Mathew’s next aim is to see the sport introduced at the 2016 Paralympics, which he hopes to attend as a competitor. The pursuit has a global following but the sport is relatively young.

“It’s probably a bit late for London 2012 but there’s a good chance of 2016. The people who organise the competition go to all sorts of countries and they’re trying to push it forward,”

he said.

“Failing that, I’ve always been a motorsport fan but I suppose that’s out of the question.”