SUPER SAMMI
Kinghorn is aiming to be the queen of the track in London
SAMMI KINGHORN suffered a broken back in a freak accident involving her father’s forklift truck.
But, seven years later, she is the fastest thing to come out of Scotland since Andy Murray’s serve.
When the World Para Athletics championships open at the London Stadium tomorrow, wheelchair whirlwind Kinghorn will be one of Britain’s brightest medal hopes.
If you can bear to listen, Kinghorn can still give a graphic account of the fateful day – as a 14-yearold, on the family’s Berwickshire farm – when her life changed forever.
But the T53 paraathlete – on course to join David Weir and Hannah Cockroft among British legends on wheels – said: “When I go out on that track, I don’t want mum and dad to sit there, thinking, ‘What if...’.
“This is the reality – and I’m determined to make the most of it. What happened was a horrible accident and this is not what I planned from my life, but I hate it when people patronise you and call it a bad situation. “It’s not a situation I was born into, but I love my life. “I travel the world, I have a chance to win medals in the London 2012 Olympic stadium and, right now, I wouldn’t swap that for any other challenge.” At 21, she is already a multiple World and European record holder, a poster girl both for health and safety on the farm and for reinventing her life after unimaginable horror.
Her father Neill did not realise his daughter was playing on his forklift truck when he lowered the bucket and she was trapped under the beam. Kinghorn, who will compete in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres at the World Paras, admits her father still goes through the proverbial gamut of emotions – between guilt and pride. But she said: “If he has bittersweet days, I don’t want him to dwell on bad fortune. “I just want to make him and my mum proud of their daughter in London – because I may not be able to walk any more, but I can push pretty fast.
“Fortunately, I was naturally quite strong before the accident because I used to help my dad catch sheep on the farm.
“I knew I had to be brave and stay positive for his sake.
“And now I’m doing something I love and making the most of it.
“It can be a little bit scary when you are going at speeds of up to 26mph in a 4ft wheelchair and you are breaking lanes and competing for the same line.
“Touch wood, I’ve never crashed on the track yet, but it’s pretty easy to tip over and land in a heap.
“I watched the Paralympics at London 2012 and I can’t wait to compete in the same stadium myself.
“I’m in good form and I really can’t wait.”
Sammi Kinghorn is part of the Christopher Ward Challenger programme, which supports up-and-coming athletes to achieve their ambitions.