Disability no obstacle as Sophie conquers Africa
11:58am Monday 9th October 2006 in News By Kat Dibbits
FOR anyone, being swept toward a white water rapid without the protection of a raft would be a frightening thought.
But for the 11 people who took part in the BBC series Beyond Boundaries, the second episode of which was shown yesterday, the danger was even more pronounced.
All the participants have disabilities that make the show's challenge - to walk across Africa - even more difficult.
Those who saw the first episode will recognise 20-year-old Sophie Hancock, from Horwich, as the girl who experienced the terror of being swept away from her overturned raft during a white water rafting challenge.
Sophie, who has achondroplasia - better known as dwarfism - was separated from the rest of the group after the first set of rapids overturned their raft.
Her team-mates managed to grab on to the raft, but Sophie was swept away - towards a second set of rapids.
"It was then that I realised that this was the real thing, I could die now, and I was really scared," she said.
Beyond Boundaries is now in its second series. The premise is simple - to take a group of people with disabilities and put them through some of the most rigorous challenges possible. In series one the group had to trek across the arduous territory of Nicaragua in Central America, avoiding bandits, crocodiles and a live volcano. Series two sees 11 new challengers take on the four ecosystems of Africa - from the swamps of the Zambezi to the wetlands of Namibia, across the Namib desert to the sand dunes of the Skeleton Coast. The legendary explorer David Livingstone failed to cross the Zambezi - but that didn't discourage Sophie.
"I watched the first series, and I thought it looked really interesting," she said. "I like a challenge so I thought it would be good to go on and make people more aware of my disability, so they don't just see us as the people who are always clowning around or appearing in adverts. We can be real tough cookies."
A rigorous application process meant each hopeful had to attend auditions, before numbers were whittled down and a shortlist of potential participants were sent on an assessment weekend. That was the first time the group had the chance to meet each other - and on the second they were on their way to Africa.
The expedition started at Victoria Falls, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the team aimed to make it across to the Skeleton Coast in Namibia. But by the first episode one member was already forced to return home due to complications from the heat. And Sophie had her own problems to deal with.
"I don't know if you could see from the programme, but walking is twice as hard for someone like myself, because we have to literally walk twice as far, we have to take twice as many steps," she said. "And I was in pain everywhere.
"But you can't stop, you have to carry on. There were quite a few times when I thought, This is just so difficult, I wish I hadn't done it, I wish I could go home.' But I wasn't only doing it for myself, I was doing it for everyone else with my condition all over the country, and I felt that if I gave up I wouldn't just be failing myself, I'd be failing all of them, too."
Sophie already had some impressive achievements under her belt before she set off for Africa. A full-time athlete, she gained a silver medal at last year's International Paralympic Committee's European Championships for shotput, and now has her sights set firmly on competing at Beijing 2008.
"It helped in that I was so fit I could deal with the physical side a bit better," she said. "It also helped that I'm used to setting myself goals and doing things as part of a team. When you're out with the Great Britain team, you have to support each other."
Teamwork is something that didn't come easily to the 11 making the trek, and the first programme in the series saw tempers flare as 22-year-old social worker Kim, who has cerebral palsy, slowed the group down.
"I just hope people understand how much strain we were under out there," says Sophie. "There was so much stress at the time, not only with the challenges, but also because the group didn't get on as well as expected, which I just tried to stay out of. The team didn't gel very well, but I think that was because before we went away on this trip, most of the people were used to being the only person with a disability, and being the centre of attention, whereas on the Great Britain team you can't think like that, you have to support each other."
However, she is keen to stress that the group also had some great times together, and hopes that the show does not simply portray people with disabilities "as having big chips on their shoulders".
Nevertheless, Sophie describes the trek as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and in the team's peaceful moments they did learn to pull together.
"When we were walking across the sand dunes in Namibia, it was amazing. No-one has walked across those before, and experiencing something that no-one else has ever experienced was pretty special.
"And that was my favourite part, because you could see the challenge. When we were just walking 25k every day, the road just went on and on, but in the dunes you had something to focus on. When you got to the top of each one you felt like you had achieved something."
The immense physical feats should hopefully have satisfied Sophie's aim of proving that people with disabilities are "very capable". And now she has her Paralympic dreams to focus on.
"The first few weeks back I was mentally and physically exhausted," she said. "But I think it's definitely made me stronger. It's made me feel like I can do anything in life."
- Beyond Boundaries is on BBC2, Sundays, 9pm
