Two years ago, everything changed for Laura
Laura McEvoy was in a serious car accident that left her with a spinal cord injury at L1, fractured vertebrae, and a cracked skull. Suddenly, the future looked uncertain. After five and a half months in the hospital, doctors couldn’t guarantee whether Laura would walk again. The physical toll was enormous, but even more challenging was the mental shift. Before the accident, Laura was an Irish dancer, enjoyed running in the outdoors and was a regular at the gym. During her recovery, Laura was searching for something that could give her the same push, adrenaline, and bring out her competitive edge.
In her search, she started trying new things. One of the first sports she explored was rock climbing, which she fell in love with. “When you’re on the wall, trying all the different routes, your mind isn’t focused on anything else.” For Laura, rock climbing is meditative, empowering, and all-consuming in the best way.
Laura then discovered Wheelchair Basketball. “I’d never been into team sports prior to my accident, but Wheelchair Basketball, I love. My passion for it has grown more and more.” Laura has been playing for about a year and a half with the Northern Ireland team, and it has transformed her life. “What is amazing about it is the sense of community it has, it’s really helped me in the early days of my recovery. Being a part of a team sport is amazing because not only do you train together, you win together, you also lose together.” Laura shared that “there is going to be people on the team that who are going through their own things, in their own lives but whenever you go to training, whenever you’re playing together, nothing matters, you’re focused on playing and trying your best.”
With this life changing experience that Laura has been through, it isn’t always easy to be motivated for training, “There have been days I didn’t want to train, you know when mentally you aren’t here today, but I’d go anyway. I’d get stuck in, and by the end of the session you end up leaving a lot better than you arrived”
“Wheelchair basketball has a real community, it’s hard to find people who have similar experiences to you. You know, mine was a car accident, spinal cord injury and its exposed me to people who have experienced similar things and its give me a sense of belonging and more inspiration as well because you think, they’ve tried that, I’ll give it a go!”
The sense of community that Laura has gained from Wheelchair basketball has allowed her to find her place in sport and help her understand her journey, building new friendships which expand beyond wheelchair basketball and has created opportunities which Laura “never would’ve tried alone”. A teammate shared his experience of adaptive skiing in Colorado, which inspired Laura to give it a try. “I conquered it, and it was an amazing experience. These aren’t just sports, they’re life-changing opportunities.”
When playing for Northern Ireland, there is a mixed team and women’s team. When playing in the mixed team Laura said, “Playing with the men, they are incredibly experienced and they are amazing at pushing you forward and teaching you things that has worked for them, everyone is so supportive, and everyone wants the best for each other on the team.”
Playing alongside and learning from incredible women in the sport has been even more inspiring. Laura competed in her first all-women’s wheelchair basketball league in England. This was the first time Laura had been exposed to playing women only teams and the atmosphere was incredible. “Seeing all these amazing women who are so athletic, so amazing and skilled and talented at basketball, it was really inspiring for me. I thought, I want to be like you!It’s so important having that sense of community, it inspires me loads” Laura’s community has motivated her to push herself even harder. Seeing everyone compete that weekend has reminded her of the possibilities out there. Laura has met inspiring people across many of the sporting communities she is now part of but one in particular that impresses is Paralympian, Katie Morrow. Katie is a Northern Ireland teammate of Laura’s and is a real inspiration to her. “She is incredible” playing alongside Katie is encouraging, Laura describes her as “the elite of the elite” and how Katie has given her tips to improve her game.
Laura wants to use her voice and her platform to raise awareness that regardless of your disability there is a sporting community out there for you. Laura’s one message to anyone, especially women or young girls living with a disability who are hesitant to try sport, is to “Do it.”
Do it for the community. For the people who will understand you in ways others can’t. For the friends who will challenge you, support you, and open new doors you never imagined.
And do it for the freedom. The chance to escape your own mind for a while, to feel powerful in your body again, and to rediscover what you’re capable of. Sport isn’t just about fitness or competition; it’s about healing, growth, and finding joy again.
The opportunities are out there. Sometimes, it’s just about knowing where to look – or seeing someone else who’s doing it and thinking, “Maybe I can too. And believe me – you can”.
Find an opportunity to participate: https://activelivingnolimits.co.uk/find-an-opportunity/
We are proud to have Laura as a #BeSeenBeHeardBelong ambassador!
