Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Harry proves quick learner
Harry Langley has only been playing wheelchair rugby for two years but he already has high ambitions of representing his country at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. The 22-year-old was paralysed after he broke his neck playing rugby for Sussex University in his freshers year. He began playing wheelchair rugby almost immediately which helped with his rehab. Since then he has thrived on the sport and now captains Canterbury Hellfire and has been selected for the GB talent squad. Harry said: “As soon as I got out of hospital I started playing straight away. I train four times a week now. “It was a massive help during my rehab stage with meeting people and getting advice from other players, not only in rugby terms but general living. “I have got a massive support base. My family are amazing and I was helped the whole way through. They come to all the weekends I play and I think they want to be in Tokyo more than I do!” The Bromley-based sportsman has an incredibly positive outlook on life and is determined to succeed at the sport but it has also helped in his day-to-day life. He said: “You get a small amount of people who can play this game because you have to have three limbs affected so in one way you could say I was unlucky but in other ways I’m fortunate. “I was always competitive and sporty in the first place and loved rugby. Although it’s not similar to rugby, you get the same competitive and sport and fitness drive. I prefer this to rugby now, I will watch this at any opportunity I do. “My strength in and around the house has changed. I used to have electric wheels, now I have a manual chair, I can transfer without a board and things like this have all come from rugby.” Harry, along with team-mate David Barber, will join up with the GB talent squad later this month with the goal of representing their country at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. He hopes this training will benefit both him and also the Canterbury team. He said: “Tokyo is definitely the aim and hopefully a realistic one. The trial was funny because I went on holiday the week before. “We had been waiting for the trial for a while, I got back on the Thursday and it was on the Saturday. I was happy when I got in. “The fact that David and I are doing it together is great. We can bring stuff back to help the team.”