Passion for sport leads to Nicola’s new challenge taking to the high seas!

WHEN Nicola became wheelchair-bound at the age of 25, little did she know it would be sport that would give her the drive and motivation she needed to accept her condition and move forward in life with a positive mental attitude.

“It was December of 2010, the time of the bad snow, and about eight months after my accident,” recalls Nicola.

“I was in a bad place and couldn’t really see a way forward, despite having such supportive family and friends, and then Kevin McLoughlin from Ardee called and asked would I be interested in trying out some sports.”

Nicola had been very active when able-bodied, playing football and running.

“By the January, I still hadn’t rung him back, but he didn’t let it go,” she says with a laugh.

“I agreed to go to Warrenpoint, where they took me out in a speedboat, and then on a few daytrips to Dublin, and then I really caught the bug!”

Nicola has now been able to pass on that enthusiasm to hundreds of members the IWA over the past five years, and her goal is to start a mini-gym for wheelchair users – or Warriors on Wheels as they are called!

“My sister owned a gym, and I didn’t feel comfortable using equipment in public, and that’s why I started the kettlebell classes here in the Drogheda IWA.

“Kieran McDonnell, who runs the classes every Wednesday, had never worked with people with disabilities, and was a bit unsure, but eventually he thought, why not?”

Not only is Nicola taking the classes herself, but she is undertaking a new challenge this year – setting sail on a Tall Ship for a week!

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet that we’re going,” says Nicola, who will spend seven days working on the ship with friend Martin Murphy.

‘We leave for Liverpool on May 27th and have to work as a crew navigating and cooking, before getting back into Dublin for the Tall Ships Festival on June 2nd.”

Nicola says that mentally, getting into sport has been so important.

“It’s one the most vital social activity we do at the centre, especially for younger members. “Even with doing exercises like the Boxercise, I have been able to wheel myself around the town, I never would have had the strength before, but the difference to my independence is huge”.