SPIRIT OF LEGENDS

Paralympians are responsible for winning 7 times more Gold medals than Olympians in a 1/3 of the time,  yet little documentation exists.  
Clare Newton, artist from Hackney, has set herself a new challenge; which is to make dramatic photographic portraits of the many GB Paralympians, who are still alive today.  Whether they are veterans or current day champions, they have contributed to society, in a hugely important way and at so many different levels – yet many feel forgotten.
For countless decades the public and the media have not been interested in the achievements of disabled people.  Although the Stoke Mandeville games was finally connected to the Olympics back in 1960 - not much was know about them until the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1996 - but that interest had to wait until C4 coverage in London 2012 to really inspire the public.
The games for people with serious spinal injuries was first started by Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a refugee fleeing from Germany in 1939. He was offered a post in Oxford to continue his research in Neurology and Neurosurgery, and later asked to set up the Stoke Mandeville Hospital - we still have today. Guttmann changed the way paraplegic patients were treated - firstly by moving them regularly to avoid pressure sores and urinary tract infections - and then by engaging them in physical activities, with sports like archery or basketball, to improve their mental wellbeing.  The successes of this new approach soon grew into a nationwide games week of competitions and tasters sessions.
Spirit of Legends aims to capture the spirit of this incredible sport, the diverse range people, who have overcome so many obstacles or traumas and who have great inspirational stories to tell, in which to enlighten us with.
But all have one thing in common... “they are not disabled”.
This extraordinary project is to launch the first series of 6 portraits at the ExCeL London centre in May, across the main boulevard. But the exclusive exciting news, with one of the Paralympians; Aaron Phipps is about to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.  Aaron suffered from meningitis as a young teenager who lost both his legs and most of his fingers. He is climbing to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation.
To find out about each Paralympian, log on to http://spiritoflegends.wix.com/newton
Beautiful photographic portraits can be purchased with 10 percent going to the Paraathlete to help them get to Rio and help the project exhibit across the UK to inspire, education and acknowledge.