MALVERN’s Vicky Jenkins claimed an heroic bronze medal for Great Britain in the Paralympic Games just days after she was taken to hospital while feeling completely paralysed and her dreams of success laying in tatters.
The 39-year-old archery star almost did not appear in her debut Games after she woke up last Monday (September 12) unable to move due to a neurological problem.
But after spending three days in hospital, she defied all the odds to claim a remarkable bronze on Saturday (September 17) and was grateful for all the help she received by Team GB medics and hospital staff.
In a BBC interview she said: “I had finished training and went for a sleep and then when I woke up I couldn’t move.
“My glucose had just plummeted out of nowhere and I have a neurological condition which impacts my movement which became even worse.
“It was a really chronic pain and the doctors did everything they could and, in the end, it was getting pretty serious so they sent me off to the hospital for three days.
“It was a scary time, but I’ve been looked after so well by the GB medics and the hospital here in Rio – without them I wouldn’t have made it to the competition.”
Vicky’s gold medal hopes in the individual W1 event were dashed at the semi-final stage as she was narrowly defeated 141-131 by fellow Team GB para-archer Jess Stretton who eventually went on to win gold after beating team-mate Jo Firth in the final.
However, in the bronze medal match Jenkins held her nerve to overcome Republic of Korea’s Kim Ok Geum by a narrow margin of 125-124.
Vicky started the game well as she raced into a four point lead after finishing the third end but the Korean fought back, tying the fourth.
The showdown went to the final arrow but Vicky showed great composure to shoot a nine to take third place on a podium dominated by Team GB.
Vicky added: “I’m feeling loads better, getting a bronze medal definitely helped. At one point I thought, ‘oh this is all over’, after all this training.
“I took it one day at a time and we got there.”
The 2014 Herefordshire Sport’s Disabled Sports person of the Year used to be a helicopter pilot instructor before she began to experience neurological problems.
Vicky only took up archery six years ago and with strict rules regarding drugs in sport, she had to cut out the medication she used to depend on.
However, she climbed up the ranks to claim a bronze and silver medal respectively at the European Championships prior to her debut Paralympics appearance.
