STUBBS John

Classification
Open (worldarchery.sport, 28 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Limb deficiency (paralympiansclub.org.uk, 20 Jul 2011)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (paralympiansclub.org.uk, 20 Jul 2011)

Impairment Details
In 1989 he was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle near his home in Warrington, England, which resulted in the amputation of his leg. "Somebody in a car sideswiped me. There had been a hoax call for an accident and the ambulance that picked me up was on its way back to the station. If I had waited for another ambulance, I probably would have died at the scene. I had to have a 68-pint blood transfusion because I had severed the femoral arteries in both my legs." (paralympiansclub.org.uk, 20 Jul 2011; bbc.com, 11 May 2017)

General
IMPAIRMENT IMPACT
He initially struggled to come to terms with his impairment, but through counselling and sport he discovered a new lease on life. "While the doctors did their utmost, they couldn't save my right leg and they were lucky to save the left one. I was given the last rites because they didn't think I'd survive the initial trauma. I was given the last rites again when I developed septicaemia, but I managed to pull through. I spent many months in hospital, but was given no idea of how to cope as a newly disabled person. I thought my life was over and tried to drown myself in the local pond, but a watchful neighbour saved me from my suicide attempt and I was given 'social rehab' in a young persons' disabled unit. I was 24 and in a wheelchair, but after seeing people who couldn't communicate or feed themselves I thought, 'What have I got to complain about?' That was the wake-up call I needed. [Through archery] I found something that challenged me. I didn't feel like I had that when I had my accident. That was what was missing. Archery has given me the mental resilience to face other challenges in my life, it's given me something else to focus on." (Facebook profile, 22 Feb 2020; bow-international.com, 07 Dec 2017; bbc.com, 11 May 2017; nationaltrust.co.uk, 01 Sep 2014)

SPECIAL BOW
In 2017 he had his archery bow framed in a glass cabinet. The bow helped him to win two gold medals at the 2013 World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, and a silver in the mixed team event at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I had it framed because it is a bow that has won me pretty much everything that you can win. I shoot in excess of 2000 arrows a week, so that bow has probably shot in excess of half a million arrows. It's a testament to the equipment that it's lasted for as long as it has. A bow eventually ends up becoming a part of yourself to be honest, so I didn't want to just put it away and forget about it because of how much it has meant to me." (theboltonnews.co.uk, 01 Nov 2017)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has served as president of Eccles Archery Club in Manchester, England. (rhyljournal.co.uk, 17 Dec 2019)