Escape to the Perfect Town presenter Steve Brown has opened up about the "turning point" for him after he was paralysed from the chest down after breaking his neck.
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Speaking to The Telegraph, he revealed that his parents took him to a wheelchair rugby match, explaining: "It was one of the first days that I’d been up in a wheelchair, barely a month after my accident... I couldn’t think of anything more humiliating than being out in public. I had no balance, I was timid and embarrassed at people looking at me."
Steve broke his neck in his early twenties
He continued: "But seeing the team in training was inspiring. There were people trying to knock each other out of their wheelchairs, shouting, swearing and arguing. There was a canyon between where I was mentally and physically and where they were.
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"A lot of them had similar injuries to me, some had worse, and I thought: 'If they can be that confident, why can’t I?’ It was a turning point."
Steve went on to serve as captain of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad, and played in the 2012 London Paralympic Games. Chatting to the BBC, he said: "I wanted that drive and to have that determination and passion about something in my life.
Steve served as captain of the Great Britain wheelchair rugby squad
"And to go from them inspiring me to me being their Captain at London 2012 - I owe it to the people in the team, that I managed to achieve that."
Since retiring from wheelchair rugby, Steve has had a hugely successful television career, and has presented Springwatch and Countryfile alongside Escape to the Perfect Town.
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