If you’re ever unfortunate enough to have to push a wheelchair you’ll appreciate the sheer effort involved and the wear and tear that years of it might take. It’s a problem that’s tested medical minds for years and the Olympics might be about to provide an answer.
As an able-bodied person trying out a wheelchair along the walkways of the Aspire Centre, the national spinal unit in Stanmore, the thing you notice is how stopping abruptly wrenches your shoulder muscles. Inclines, going downhill and rougher ground make you realise how much upper-body strength you need and how much toll it might take on the body over decades if one was unfortunate enough to be disabled in the prime of life.
I know precisely how much