Jaspal’s story

Jaspel Dhani is 35 and was born in India where he lived for the first seven years of his life.  At the age of 3 he contracted Polio, which paralysed both of his legs, but by the age of 15 he was taking part in half marathons and The London Marathon.  A successful businessman, happy family man and a leading figure in the field of disability rights, in his own words, Jaspal epitomises that "in every adversity lies the seed of equal or greater benefit".  Here Jaspel tells his own story;

"I first met Owen and Kay at Elizabeth Fry School where they worked as Physiotherapists. In the 1980's they then established the Newham Rollers, a group for local wheelchair-using children that provided opportunities to compete in sport and develop the life skills required as a wheelchair-user. 

It was during my time with the "Rollers" that I competed in many wheelchair marathons and track races and developed a real passion for wheelchair basketball. As the demand for this type of training developed, Owen and Kay founded the Association of Wheelchair Children, a registered charity, where as a result of my friendship with them I was asked to join the Board of Trustees.

I currently work as the Director for Disability Action in the Borough of Barnet alongside running my own IT based company, Practical IT Solutions and a franchise as an independent distributor for Kleeneze.  I am also registered as a freelance Disability Equality trainer and provide training to service providers throughout the UK on issues affecting disabled people in the mainstream community.

I guess I have never really thought about these achievements in terms of being a wheelchair-user. 

I always set myself a personal goal that whenever I take up a new role, I will expect to move on to a higher position in the next 3 to 4 years.  Along the way the main, obstacles that I have faced, have come about as a result of negative perceptions towards me as a disabled person.  This experience first started in school where the standard of education was poor compared to mainstream schools and the expectations of teachers were not particularly high. Although I left school with next to no qualifications, I was fortunate enough to have been given a place at Waltham Forest College where I studied Computer Studies and made some very good friends.  Within two years I was offered a place at the University of East London where I studied for a HND in Information Systems.

After leaving University, I started to look for jobs in the IT industry.  I can still remember arriving for interviews and seeing the shocked look on the faces of the interview panel when they discovered that I was in a wheelchair!   This happened at almost every interview until I went for an interview at the British Sports Association for the Disabled (BSAD).  I can honestly say that working at BSAD really set me on my career path within the disability movement (or was I heading that way already?). We all face adversity at some stage in our life and what we must remember is that in every adversity lies the seed of equal or greater benefit.  I have never allowed other people's attitudes towards me from preventing me from achieving what I want out of life.  In fact, I have used it as a catalyst to motivate and inspire me to challenge their stereotypes of wheelchair-using people to accomplish my own goals".

Today Jaspal Dhani lives in Redbridge Essex, with his wife and two daughters Tiffany and Elish. He plays and coaches his own wheelchair basketball team and at only 35 he is still "determined to feed his desire to do even more and achieve more from his life".

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	Association of Wheelchair Children 6 Woodman Parade, North Woolwich, London, E16 2LL Tel:  0844 544 1050 Registered Charity No. 1057894 Company Registered 3249582