When Michael Jenkins was told to give up rugby, he admits it was as if someone had flicked the lights off on his sporting ambition.
Five years on and the spotlight on the 18-year-old from Pembrokeshire is burning brightly after performances as a para-athlete which are nothing short of sensational.
Michael was 13 when doctors told him it would be unwise to continue to play rugby because of the risks it might pose to someone with cerebral palsy.
That was a major disappointment to several rugby clubs – not least because the teenager was blessed with impressive physical attributes and now stands at a mighty seven feet tall.
But it was a devastating blow for the youngster himself for whom the sport was everything.
“It felt like a massive blow to be told I couldn’t play rugby any more,” recalls Michael.
“It’s very, very tough when you have to stop doing something you love. I had a real passion for rugby and I wanted to get to the highest level I could, whatever that might have been.
“I went for two or three months without doing any sport at all. I was really upset and didn’t want to do anything else, which is unhealthy.
“I tried long distance running at first – I don’t really know why – and I didn’t enjoy it, either.”
Thankfully, Michael was nudged towards other areas of athletics that he did enjoy. A mate led him towards the Pembrokeshire Harriers club and from there he soon tried the throwing disciplines of shot put and discus.
Welsh Athletics throws coach Ryan Spencer-Jones saw Michael throwing at one event and the conversation quickly developed.
“The moment he saw I was a disabled athlete and he saw the distances I was throwing, he just said, ‘right, I want to train you.’ And that was how it all started.”
That’s how it started and this is how it’s going. Weekly and sometimes twice weekly training sessions in Cardiff have developed Michael’s talent and have proven that when one sporting door closes another can often spring open.
He says he’ll always be grateful to rugby for giving him a grounding in sport, and he also enjoyed a bit of back garden basketball, but para athletics is where his passion and talent now lies.
“When I was younger, I didn’t know too much about the opportunities in disability rugby. I think it’s much bigger now and there are lots of opportunities, but I basically had to stop playing the type of rugby I was playing and it felt tough.
“But I have found that passion in para athletics, 100 per cent. I am now always thinking about discus and how I can throw further.”
