Inspired Lenton is eager to seize chance to shine

ROSEMARY LENTON recalls being frustrated at missing the chance to go and watch the Commonwealth Games in 2002 when health complications left her needing a wheelchair. Two decades later the 72-year-old will make her debut at the Birmingham Games as a competitor. Lenton (below) is part of Team Scotland’s para-bowls squad after reinventing her life when routine surgery led to an infection and a series of other operations. Formerly a competitive sailor and cyclist who had gone on charity rides to China and Russia, the Dumfries woman took up bowls in 2005 and has competed in three World Championships, winning a silver medal in one. She went on to take up wheelchair curling and has competed in nine World Championships. ‘I hadn’t played the sport until I ended up in a wheelchair in 2002,’ added Lenton, who comes from Huddersfield but has lived in Scotland for more than 40 years. ‘I went into hospital for what was meant to be a straightforward operation but I got an infection and had to have nine operations and was in hospital for three months. ‘I struggled going back to work for three years before I had to give it up in 2005. ‘I took up bowls, really as a social thing, to get myself out of the house and mix with people. When I was at bowls, someone suggested wheelchair curling too. ‘You can’t sit at home and wait for the world to come to you, you have to make the effort and go out and meet others. It was social but after a couple of years I went to the Scottish Championships and won it the first year. I won it several times after, so it set me off on this path.’