Athlete 'not disabled enough' for Paralympics is considering having leg amputated

A recent rule change to the Paralympics has forced an athlete to consider having his leg amputated after being deemed "not disabled enough".

Oscar Knight, 17, has spent the past eight years dreaming of playing for Team GB at a paralympic level, but new participation measures that have failed to recognize his "poorly understood" condition and have made him "not the right kind of disabled" to compete, BBC News reports.

In an interview on the UK talk show This Morning, Oscar said: "When I was younger, being nine or 10 years old - I used to play football and stuff like that - and not being able to have a sport or anything was heartbreaking and the only thing I had in my mind was I want my legs gone, I don't want them there, all they do is bring me is pain."

Watch Oscar talk about his condition in the video below: 

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Oscar continued: "Finding basketball kind of made me accept what it is and there are other people with worse or similar disabilities.

"But now my potential career could be taken away sort of makes me want to get rid of them again because there's no point in it."

Oscar first developed complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) at the age of nine, and now relies on a wheelchair full time because of it. The condition also means that he is in constant pain.

The remarkable teenager also suffers from hypermobility syndrome, which leaves his joints weak and at risk of breaking.

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Recalling the first moment he battled the condition, Oscar told the MailOnline: "I woke up one morning and I couldn't put my feet on the ground without being in pain.

"That condition has deteriorated over time and although I was able to walk with the aid of crutches initially, I now use a wheelchair all the time as I’m unable to walk or bear my own weight.

"I was always into sport and would play football at primary school every chance I had. But since being diagnosed with CRPS, I have fallen in love with wheelchair basketball."

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Oscar, who plays for the Plymouth Raiders, was chosen to join the GB Academy, and in a recent game against Spain, captained an under-22 team.

However, now fears that his ambition to take his basketball to the next level could be cut short because the wheelchair basketball's governing body, the IWBF, said that it has to change its classification.

The IPC explained that there are some disabilities that aren't covered by its code, listing conditions that "primarily cause pain" - including CRPS - as "non-eligible impairments".

Oscar, from Kingsbridge in Devon, added: "To be told that I don't have the right kind of disability is absurd.

"I'm in a wheelchair and I'm in constant pain and for someone to say that I'm not disabled enough is just discriminatory.

"Amputating a leg just so that you can follow your chosen sport may seem a drastic measure, but it's one which I may have to consider."

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His mom Natasha said: "It is crazy that the IPC - which attempts to base its brand around equality and inclusivity - is deliberately discriminating against athletes who don’t meet its narrow-minded view of what it means to be disabled.

"Oscar has dedicated his life to wheelchair basketball and to have his dream snatched away is another blow to a teenager who has a life of disability ahead of him.

"How can athletes be excluded from the only sports they are physically able to play?"

In response to the change in participation measures, the IPC has said:

"All Paralympic sport is governed by the code, which was approved by the IPC's 200-plus members in 2015. We have been working with all international federations to ensure they fully implement and abide by the rules of the code."

Good luck, Oscar! We hope to see you representing Team GB soon!