Wanna know a bit more about the incredible athletes featured in our launch video?

Of course you do…

So, these guys are our athlete pals from the UK, and from Ghana.

UK side, we have Julie, Rosie, and Joe. Three brilliant, kind para-athletes that we’ve been friends with for a while now.

Julie Rogers (Team GB Sprinter) has been an official ambassador for Legs4Africa since May 2020.

We first met Julie when she donated a load of prosthetics she used throughout her childhood, and she’s been helping us out ever since.

Being selected to compete at the London 2012 Paralympic Games as a sitting volleyball player at just 13 years old was transformative for Julie. It facilitated a growth in mindset, confidence, and physical abilities. After the 2012 games she was given a running blade which changed her life even further. She went on to participate in the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and London 2017 world champs as a sprinter.

Disability sport ‘gives you drive, it gives you focus, it gives you a goal. There’s so many positive things that come from being involved with sport – both physically and mentally.’

Julie is a strong, good-hearted human being that uses the lens through which she views the world, and her Paralympian status, to inspire others with disabilities to aim high. We feel blessed to call her our mate.

Rosie Bancroft, former Team GB para-swimmer, is the second UK athlete we want to shout about.

Rosie’s another huge advocate for the importance of disability sport. After years of competing as a para-swimmer, she’s now qualified as a dive-master, further highlighting the fact that her disability is by no means holding her back.

‘Both swimming and diving have allowed me to feel free with no limitations, have enabled me to push myself and prove that I can do anything I set my mind to. And I’m very aware of how incredibly lucky I am to have been born in a country that provided me with the support and opportunities to allow this.’

Rosie actually got in touch with us through Julie. They know each other from going to the same prosthetist when they were kids. Small world, hey!

A few years ago, Rosie spent time volunteering in a centre for children with disabilities in Tanzania. She said she remembered feeling the only difference between her being able to have a prosthetic, and these children that had no access to anything, was the fact that she had been born in the UK. When she heard from Julie what we were up to, she sent us an email saying that she’d love to show her support in any way she could. Legend.

Last on our UK list of para-athlete chums is Joe (the absolute) Bestwick.

Joe’s a former GB Wheelchair Basketball player who’s now based in Germany and is competing for them this Tokyo Paralympics.

Joe didn’t start off as a sport fanatic – in fact, it took a letter from his local wheelchair basketball team, and a good dose of encouragement from his mum to convince him to give it a go. He slowly fell in love with the sport from then on, his life transforming as he began to play for more than just fun.

‘The fact that I’ve been able to play sport as a professional and on an equal level to others despite my disability has been absolutely life changing for me.’

Time and again, Joe has shown us how huge his heart is. On top of raising two children, and training and competing in this year’s games, he always takes the time to help us with everything we ask of him, and then some. Like Rosie, Joe got in touch with us. He emailed us earlier this year to let us know he would love to get involved one way or another and hasn’t looked back since (we hope!).

On to our Ghanaian athlete mates!

First up, let’s chat about Bridget Nartey. She plays Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Tennis for Ghana.

Bridget started playing wheelchair basketball at 9 years old. From the off she faced many challenges due to the societal stigma of people with disabilities. Despite this, she’s played non-stop since that young age, has gone on to achieve many victories in her sports, and is constantly changing the perceptions of disability of those all around her.

The more Bridget plays, the more positive change in perceptions she sees. This motivates her to push even further and encourages others to do the same. A truly inspirational woman.

‘Within myself I feel very very happy and excited that I’m able to do something for the world and to encourage my younger ones coming up that there’s still hope, if only they will take upon what they have within them so the world too can also know the talents that are hidden in them.’

Next up we have Emmanuel Agyen.

Emmanuel has tried his hand at Javelin and discus and at wheelchair tennis, but ultimately his heart is with Wheelchair Basketball, which he’s represented Ghana in for the last ten years.

Emmanuel’s life changed when his friend introduced him to a group called the Ghana Sport for Physically Disabled (GSPD). Due to societal stigma, prior to this, Emmanuel used to stay indoors a lot of the time.

Similarly to Bridget, once involved in a public facing sport, Emmanuel noticed a change in the public’s perceptions of him as a person with a disability. He loves to be able to prove to people, through playing sport, that those with disabilities can be independent and do and achieve more than is often thought.

‘My plan and goal is to achieve greater heights so that I can support my friends that are physically challenged in the sports.’

Ghanaian athlete number three is Augustine Hinne, an amputee football player for Ghana.

Augustine has played amputee football from a young age, and – there’s a pattern here – ever since, he’s watched the perceptions of his friends, family, and community change. Society began to treat Augustine with a newfound respect once it was evident that his disability didn’t hold him back the way they thought it would.

The love and support Augustine’s community have provided him, he says, has motivated him incredibly. It has pushed him further in his sport, enabling him to travel the world to play it. He’s played all over Africa, competed in Argentina, and most recently, he travelled to Turkey to play in an amputee super league.

Augustine, like many other inspirational athletes with a disability, knows what it’s like to live under stigma. Yet he rises above it, proving over and over that disability does not mean inability.

‘Things didn’t exactly turn out as I wanted, so now I want to pave the way for the younger ones coming into the sports.’

One last behind the scenes big-up to throw your way before we’re done here: Eleazar Kissi Asante. The man behind the camera in Ghana.

Without this guy, we wouldn’t have been able to chat to Bridget, Emmanuel, or Augustine. Asante not only presents us with insane video and photo content whenever we need it, but always goes above and beyond in being a generally a good human being.

Asante works in the Orthopedic Training Centre (OTC) in Ghana. He’s formally the Public Relations Officer, but he also works as being the hands and legs and a reason for smiling for a lot of children at the centre.

‘The joy and smiles on the faces of the children always made me uncertain about my choices in life because, in spite of all their disability they still had a reason to be happy… this help me make a decision to ensure that their smiles on their face stays there longer. Now that’s exactly what I do, to keep them smiling in different aspects of their lives.’

On top of all this, he has time to make music?! check out his Youtube channel: Elisantegh.

So that’s it. The superhumans in and behind the launch video. I speak for everyone at Legs4Africa when I say well done and thank you to you all. We appreciate everything you guys do! Keep up the great work ya bunch of legends.