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Ninja Warrior’s first ever blind contestant is also London 2012 Paralympian Dan Powell
A LONDON 2012 Paralympian has become the first ever blind contestant to appear on ITV’s Ninja Warrior.
Dan Powell, 26, from Liverpool, will appear on the show tomorrow tackling the challenging assault course despite only have three per cent vision.
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And the judo competitor turned runner says the show was “a hundred times scarier” than competing at the London games six years ago.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun's Bizarre TV column, Dan said: “Ninja Warrior was a hundred times scarier than competing in London 2012. In London 2012 I knew what I was there to do, I knew what I was going into, I had practised loads.
“The crowd at Ninja Warrior was amazing though, it was just like the Paralympics. It made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.”
Dan used his sense of touch and the briefing of crew members to help him navigate tough obstacles.
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He added: “I’ve got no central sight basically and they were basically saying ‘can we make the lighting better? Can we do anything to help you? Can we talk you through it?’
“They gave me a very good description of the obstacles. There’s only so much describing you can do though before you physically get on there but at the same time it actually gave me a bit of a fighting chance to give it a go.”
But Dan admits that one of the sections left him with bruising on his ribs for three days after filming.
He said: “There was one of the obstacles where you jump off a ledge and you just hit this pendulum and for me it was about jumping out and waiting for my chest to hit it and cling onto it.
“I managed to stay on that and my ribs were hurting for about three days afterwards.”
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The athlete made it to the Tick Tock obstacle, almost at the end of the course, before falling in the water.
He hopes taking part in the prime time show will inspire other disabled people to apply.
Dan said: “I hope it comes across that with my disability the adaptions can be made. I went on there first and foremost to inspire a couple of people. Show the ability side.
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“It wasn’t a big focus on the fact I’ve got this disability. I didn’t get to the end but the crowd were just incredible.”
One-legged amputee Martin Herald, 26, was hailed an “inspiration” by viewers after competing on the show two weeks ago.
Ninja Warrior UK, ITV, Saturdays 6.30pm.
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