Michael David Bushell

Mickey was born on the 8th June 1990 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. He weighed in at 6lb 4oz, with a shock of blonde curly hair.

He also came with a very rare medical condition called Lumbar Sacral Spinal Agenesis Congenital Paraplegia. At the time, there were only 15 similar cases in the England.

For Mickey, this means he is ‘missing’ seven vertebrae from the lower part of the back just above the coccyx or tailbone. He has no stomach muscle control, his legs and hips float at the bottom of his body and have never really developed .

Doctors told his parents, Pete and Shelley, that the likely-hood of Mickey being able to sit up or move on his own were very slim… but they hadn’t taken into account the Bushell spirit ! “From an early age Mickey broke all the rules”, says Mum, Shelley, “He could sit, he could crawl and he developed an uncanny knack of climbing up the furniture”.

At three years old Mickey was walking around on his hands in a ‘hand-stand ‘ position with his legs above his head. “It was pretty tiring for Mickey (using his arms all the time)” , says, dad, Pete, “but I think that is where he gets his strength and stamina for his wheelchair racing”.