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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wheelchair bound military heroes have gone head-to-head as part of a bid to become the next sports champion.<\/p>\n
At the Help for Heroes recovery centre based at Phoenix House, teams of veterans took on professional rugby players in a game of wheelchair rugby.<\/p>\n
Members of Darlington Mowden Park Rugby Club’s 1st XV team paid a special visit to the recovery centre, and were treated to a tour, before participating in the challenge.<\/p>\n
The Darlington Mowden Park Rugby team members split into three different teams, and played three games of 14 minutes.<\/p>\n
One of the players from the teams was Seveci Navelinikoro, who served 12 years with 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment.<\/p>\n
This included tours of Iraq, Afghanistan, Belize, the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Kenya.<\/p>\n
Mr Navelinikoro said he missed playing rugby, after sustaining his injuries.<\/p>\n
"This brings me back to the sport. It’s a great workout. It’s very challenging as it’s hard to control the ball at the same time as the wheelchair," he said in an interview published by Help for Heroes.<\/p>\n
Hilary Conway, the supported activities coordinator for Help for Heroes, indicated that the event was so successful that the event could be held every year.<\/p>\n
She said: "Most, if not all, of the participants, especially from DMP, had never played wheelchair rugby before so it was an opportunity for them to try a new, if somewhat familiar, sport on an even playing field with wounded serving military personnel and veterans."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wheelchair bound military heroes have gone head-to-head as part of a bid to become the next sports champion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n