Evan O'Hanlon: About my disability

My disability has made me who I am and given me the opportunities I have had and continue to have and I wouldn't change the fact that I have cerebral palsy for the world.

My dad once told me the story of the day he and my mother were told that I had cerebral palsy and how, later that night as I lay asleep, he looked over me and wished with his whole being that he could do something to remove my disability.

Twenty something years later, he and my family looked down upon me once again, but this time it was from the stands as I stepped onto the track to compete at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

I can only guess that being who they are my family will once again wish that they had the power to do something to help me, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that if my dad were, in that moment to think back to when he wished he could change the fact that his son had a disability he would only laugh.

My disability has made me who I am and given me the opportunities I have had and continue to have and I wouldn't change the fact that I have cerebral palsy for the world.

The Paralympic Movement has played a major part in the way that my family and I now look at my disability and has changed my life beyond comprehension. When I step onto the track to compete in London, I hope that my actions have helped the Paralympic Movement to continue the positive influence they have on the lives of disabled athletes and their families.