Meet Ben Rushgrove
Ben Rushgrove, one of Team GB’s Paralympians who secured silver in Beijing and bronze in London, is a former Treloar’s student. He was born with severe deafness and cerebral palsy and at birth it was predicted that Ben would not live. Against the odds he survived and has gone on to constantly surprise his doctors and his parents learning to walk, lip-read and talk – incredibly significant achievements and a demonstration of Ben’s desire and drive to succeed.
At mainstream school Ben could not receive the right support or teaching to unlock his abilities and by the age of 10 he had made very little progress. Ben was also severely bullied. His parents took the difficult decision to take him out of mainstream education and send him to Treloar’s. At first Ben was unhappy; physically holding on to his mother on the day she came to drop him off, he was held back by a teacher when the time came for her to leave, heart breaking for his parents and for Ben.
Thankfully Ben settled in and his parents’ decision to send him to Treloar’s proved to be right. With specialist support and teaching Ben thrived. His academic ability grew and he ultimately moved on from Treloar’s to study sports performance at Bath University.
He also started to run whilst at Treloar’s and was talent spotted by a Team GB coach – since then he has not looked back. When Ben won his first medal in Beijing in 2008 he had fractured his foot three weeks before the race – doctors injected it with anaesthetic and despite having passed out in pain shortly before he was due to run, Ben won silver. Four years later he was on the podium again in London having won bronze.
Everyone at Treloar’s is extremely proud of all that Ben has achieved, and particularly of the fact that he says coming to study at Treloar’s is “probably the best thing that ever happened to me”. We are delighted that all of our students participate in sport, very proud of the upcoming Paralympians who attend Treloar’s today as well as our other alumni who have achieved so much. Our thanks go to our many supporters who have enabled us to provide these young sports people with the chance to begin to achieve their potential and enjoy success in the sports arena.