Padraig Hannafin

My name is Padraig Hannafin, I'm eighteen years old and I'm confined to a wheelchair with very basic limited use of my hands. The summer before last I was offered the opportunity of going to New York and representing Ireland in the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged. As you can imagine when I compared the thought of two weeks in Ballyferrurter (Co. Cork) to the thought of two weeks in New York it did not take me long to decide. As the time drew closer I was becoming very excited but to tell you the truth I was a nervous wreck as it was my first time away without my family since my accident.

For the first few days of the trip I was very homesick, but then I settled in and the remainder of the two weeks were fun filled and packed with lots of activities, so much so that it's almost impossible to mention them all.

But the highlight of the whole two weeks for me was the opening of the games and the games themselves. It was such an inspirational and proud moment for me to hear Ireland's National Anthem being played in the arena at the opening of the games. I participated in electric wheelchair races of various distances, the precision throw and the soft shot. I was delighted to come away with three gold and three silver medals for the six events I took part in. The games opened my eyes to the range of different disabilities that there are. Before the games I had very little knowledge of any disability other than my own. This helped me to appreciate whatever amount of limited ability I had and it also taught me to take advantage of whatever opportunities life offers me.

After the games we had plenty of time to relax and enjoy the time we had. We went shopping in flea markets, which was an experience all of its own! Some of the shopping centres that we visited were almost twice the size of the village that I come from.

We also went to the beach where we got the opportunity of going on a speedboat and jet skis. I never would have dreamt in my wildest dreams that I would be able to do these things. Even after a hectic day of sports there was always something to keep us occupied in the evening, from dining out with various generous and friendly American groups such as the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernians to dancing the night away at discos.

At the beginning of the trip when I was feeling at my worst, I wanted to give up and go home but my chaperone told me that if I could get over my homesickness and jet lag and try my best that I would be able to do anything and he was right, since the trip I have been to a Robbie Williams and U2 Concert, a Celtic FC Soccer match, and the only thing that prevented me from doing a parachute jump was bad weather.

The trip opened my eyes to a whole new world and helped to give me a wealth of confidence. I'm so grateful to everyone who made this trip possible for me. I know that there is a lot of work done behind the scenes and that people gave up two weeks of their own time to make this trip possible. This is something that I will always appreciate and never forget.

Go Raibh Mile Maith Agat.

Padraig Hannafin