Interview with Ade Adepitan

Born in Lagos Nigeria Adedoyin (Ade) Adepitan. Contracted Poliomyelitis (polio) at the age of just fifteen months. As a result of this Ade was left with only partial use of his right leg and none at all within his left. His parents decided to move the family to Plaistow in east London, allowing for access to better medical treatment and the chance for Ade to be taught how to walk using iron callipers. (an Iron walking frame) 

which he then continued to wear up until the age of 17.  

Ade had a real passion for football, spending many of his young years dreaming of playing football for England.

As Ade grew up he gained many friends many of whom helped him get around by pushing him in a supermarket shopping trolley. It was on one of these many outings that he was spotted by two local Physiotherapists, Wen McGhee and Kay  Owen. Who both worked teaching young disabled children in the east London catchment area how to use sport as a way to become more independent despite their challenges. 

Becoming intrigued Ade then travelled to Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, where he was introduced to wheelchair basketball. This was the day Ade's life was changed forever as from that moment, his biggest ambition was to train so hard he gained a spot on the Great British Paralympic wheelchair basketball team. Then to go on to win a medal in the Paralympics for Great Britain. 

Being selected to represent Great Britain in the Paralympics of 2000 held in Sydney. His teenage dream began to come true. 

These games were very significant for all those involved as the brilliant media coverage enabled them to gain public support. 

opening up new television opportunities.  Shortly after the games he was featured in Playstations double life advert, starred in a documentary titled "Hoop dreams" for cable channel and also presented a national T.V wildlife show. 

This gave Ade even more perseverance enabling him to go on to win a medal in 2002 whilst competing in both the Paralympics and  European championships .

 picking up both a Bronze and Silver medal. 

His career went from strength to strength as he then in 2004 where he also won a medal. 

In 2005 where he again picked up both a Bronze and silver whilst again competing in the 2005 Paralympics and European championships. 

Nowadays most of Ade's time is taken up by television work, mainly presenting wildlife documentaries where his determination is really on show, no matter how tricky the terrain he will try to cross it. 

It was one of these shows,  I was introduced to Ade and his work. I have no idea why but this was a time I really needed some motivation, something or someone to actually prove to me that even with my struggles I could still achieve all I wanted to. 

I'm feeling much like that at the moment, something I spoke about in my last blog but seems to still be trying to come back from.

Ade has also written and released a series of children's books titled "The Cyborg cat" , based in part on his life growing up with a disability. 

Upon asking  him what he hopes to achieve with this series he told me he would "like all kids to see that it’s ok to be different to realise the importance of a good, genuine friendship but to realise that all of us can be superheroes if we believe in ourselves." He also believes that the younger generation of around  30 and below have a much more positive perception of disability than when he was growing up. However, he accepts older generations can still sometimes struggle with prejudices they grew up around. 

And says "we need to be more empathetic as a nation." Being in the act of  "Looking outwards as well as inwards" whilst we "care for ourselves and be proud as a nation." Ade considers this to be very important and expresses the obligation to "try to understand and help people who are less fortunate" 

Connecting on from this Ade disclosed his feelings on the Corona Virus pandemic talking of the desperate need of cooperation in these challenging times he told me "The Coronavirus pandemic has shown that whether we like it or not our world is interconnected and we are interdependent on each other. 

"When China has cold the whole world sneezes!! If Africa nations keep struggling economically then at some point we will all pay the price. That could be through the spread of viruses like polio or Corona." And that "poverty in African nations leaves their younger generations vulnerable to being indoctrinated into negative philosophies. Or when " you feel like the world has left you behind and nobody cares then you become easy pickings for recruitment into terrorist organisations." Ade confesses that "If we are to survive as a race we cannot afford to leave anyone behind." 

One of my ten questions to Ade was advice about getting into sports or entertainment. Like a lot of celebrities have said in the past he agreed you have to make sure it’s for the right reasons and "because you have a passion for your sport or whatever area of entertainment you’re trying to get into." Suggesting that " If you’re in it just for the fame and money then you’ll struggle to find true happiness" 

I'm sure the majority of you will be aware of the "We are Undefeatable" campaign that did the internet and social media circles last August. 

I myself feel there's a lot more that could be done to make sport more accessible, especially for children. 

Disability sport is rarely shown on television so it was nice to see Ade's views on this, he also feels that "the only way to make disability sport more accessible is by increasing visibility. " as well as allowing it to be shown on "mainstream media all the time just like mainstream sports." 

Having been impacted by sport himself he knows what a powerful tool it can be and saying it is " a very powerful tool for life if it’s taught in the right way." Ade also states that he wouldn’t be where he is today or have achieved many of the things he has achieved if it wasn’t for the lessons he learnt from playing sport.

As I'm coming to the end of my blog I feel it is time to talk about achievements,

Ade was part of the bid team that went to Singapore in 2005, helping London win the rights to hold the Paralympic and Olympic Games. Which he described it as a "historic and game-changing moment that I will never forget." 

Ade's advice to anyone struggling with a disability is to "Never give up"

I hope you enjoyed reading this weeks blog. This is the most excited I have been about a blog and I'm so  happy with the way it has turned out. I also wanted more of a challenge so I decided to put the questions at the end but included them within the text. Something in which I never do. So I really hope it has worked and makes sense. 

Thank you so much for reading ❤