My daughter, Cherry, she saw somebody with dwarfism
who was powerlifting, and she said to me,
"Do you think you could do that, Daddy?"
What motivates me to keep going
during the tougher workouts is the fact that I really want
to be able to make my daughter, Cherry, proud of me.
My average workout involves a lot of pain, a lot of sweat,
a lot of tears.
It was a lot of hard work.
Rich's workout ethic is unreal.
I've never seen someone with so much determination
to make it to Tokyo in 2020.
Right, then, Cherry, shall we have a protein shake?
Have you set your stall up?
Are you going to be the shake lady?
What inspired me to start powerlifting was the fact that
I was watching the Paralympics with my daughter
and she saw this lady with dwarfism,
and she recognised that she was like me.
She says, "Daddy, do you think you could do that?"
Well, at the time, I'd just come out of many major surgeries.
To be honest, I'd got quite an addiction to opiate-based
pain medications that I'd been on for years.
And I think it was the kick that I needed
to actually do something with my life that was positive.
I just quit all the medications that I was on
while my doctor was on holiday, went cold turkey,
and took up powerlifting.
My daddy powerlifts, and he's good.
I think my daddy can make it into the Paralympics.
Having Cherry along with me on my competitions and training
is immensely inspiring to me
and motivational, as well, because she gets to see...
Daddy getting stronger, and something for her to be proud of
when daddy competes.
I never doubted Rich's ability to powerlift when he first came to us.
We adapted our training methods to suit his needs.
When Rich first told me he was going to try powerlifting,
I initially was concerned
for the effects it could have on him, physically.
Obviously, it's not without its risks
to even, you know, the able-bodied individual.
But obviously, with Rich's health conditions
being as they are, I was sort of concerned.
The type of dwarfism that I have
is a condition called diastrophic dwarfism.
My lung bones are obviously affected,
and my arms are a lot shorter, and my fingers, obviously.
I think it's quite a rare condition compared to most other dwarfisms.
And I have complicated joints, so they don't actually
move in the same way as other people's joints do.
Growing up with dwarfism as a child,
it was quite difficult, in the sense that you attract a lot of attention
from other children, cos you do stand out.
You're always smaller than your peers.
Cos I had to have an awful lot of surgeries,
I think over 40 as a child,
cos I was born with my legs turned inwards,
and I had what they call talipes, or club feet. So every year,
during the summer holidays, I would go into hospital,
have surgeries on both legs and then, you know,
all the kids are on holiday and stuff,
I was sat there with two legs in plaster casts for the whole summer.
So... So that was tough.
The first surgeon that I saw,
he said I would have to have my leg amputated.
And if my other leg went the same way,
I'd have to have that amputated, too.
I think what kept me going through my surgeries was
the support of my wife, Charlie, and the love that she has for me.
She's always been there, from day one.
We just met across the pool table, basically.
Our teams were pitched against each other and...
Just went from there, really, didn't it?
I'm really, really proud of him.
It came a bit unexpectedly, but...
The way he's sort of committed himself to it,
it's quite inspiring to see how much effort and determination
he's putting into his training.
Wow. Look, see. Oh, it matches, yes. Put that on.
The example I'm hoping to set for Cherry
is that anything is possible.
Maybe you don't think you can do, you can do if you give it a try.
The top hold that I've held is 110kg.
Bearing in mind, I weigh 51kg...
On a good day!
So, that's twice body weight, at least.
Did I think I would make it this far?
If you'd asked me six months ago,
one day, I'd be holding 110kg above myself...
The answer would definitely be a no.
I think the thing that I'm most proud of so far
is, after just five months of training, I went into the
English weightlifting championships, doing powerlifting on the bench.
And I came sixth in the country in England.
So I know for a fact that, now onwards,
it can only get better and better.
I think the way that Rich is going,
he could definitely reach the Paralympics.
I mean, if, in six months he can go from never having bench pressed
at all to lifting 100kg, I think that, you know,
within the next three and a bit years,
you know, he's got plenty of scope for massive improvements.
I'm immensely proud of him for his achievements and his attitude
and his determination.
I think the motivation for me, personally,
is doing something that makes not only myself proud,
and particularly my daughter and family proud,
but also, hopefully, maybe inspire other people who maybe think
they can't do something, just to give something a go.
Even if I don't make it to the Paralympics, the journey along the
way will be a lot further than where I would have got if I had not tried.
Oh, dizzy, dizzy, dizzy!