The North East's Paralympic Superhumans
30 August 2012, 07:40 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50
The 2012 Paralympics are underway after a spectacular opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in London.
Our North East Paralympians are raring to go out and win medals now, so who will we be cheering on?
Terry Bywater (@TerryBywater07 on Twitter)
Terry's 29 and from Redcar. He competes for ParalympicsGB in the Wheelchair Basketball.
Terry is one of the most experienced players in the men's Wheelchair Basketball team and London 2012 will be his fourth Paralympic Games.
Lee Brunton
18 year old Lee Brunton is from North Shields and plays in the 5-A-Side ParalympicsGB team.
Lee went blind after being diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was 5 years old and completely lost his sight when he was 13.
Dan English
21 year old Dan is from Washington. He's playing in the 5 a side ParalympicsGB team
Josef Craig
Josef, who's from Jarrow, is only 15 years old and has cerebral palsy. He is competing in the swimming events. He's hoping to pick up medals in the 100m Freestyle (S7), 50m Freestyle (S7) and the 400m Freestyle (S7)
Stephen Miller (@hailfabio) - Pictured
Stephen, from Cramlington, is a 5 time Paralympic medallist - having won 3 gold medals at the Atlanta Games in 1996, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. He also won a silver at Beijing in 2008 and a bronze in the discus at Sydney.
Stephen's competing in the F32 Club Throw at London 2012 and is the ParalympicGB Athletics captain.
Jade Jones (@jadejones11)
Jade's a medal hope for ParalympicsGB. She's competing in the 400m (T54) She's from Middlesbrough and was born with her femur missing from her leg
Hazel Robson (HazelRobson2)
Hazel's a pro at winning medals at the Paralympics. She competes in the athletics and won gold at Sydney 200, 2 silvers in Athens 2004 and a bronze in the 100m and 200m in Beijing 2008.
At London 2012, Hazel, who's from Houghton-Le-Spring, will be hoping to go for gold in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay (T36)
Gemma Collis (@GemmaCollis)
Gemma's 19 years old and originally from Buckinghamshire. She goes to Durham University where she trains for her event - wheelchair fencing (Women's Team Epee)
Susie Rogers (@susie_rogers)
Susie, from Stockton-On-Tess, is 29 years old and this is her first Paralympic Games. She competes in a number of paralympic swimming events - after she was born with half her left arm and half her left leg missing.
You can watch Susie competing in the 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle, 50m Freestyle & 400m Freestyle (S7)
James O'Shea
You might have seen 34 year old James from Newcastle on the TV show 'Dancing On Wheels' - he had the lovely Caroline Flack as his dancing partner!
He'll be competing in the 100m breaststroke (SB5) - James had a double amputation in 1998, when he was 19, after falling under a train.
John Robertson (LandyJohn72)
John's the oldest of our North East Paralympians - at 40 years old. He's from Sunderland and is competing in the Sonar Sailing event.
He's represented ParalympicsGB in sailing at 2 Paralympic Games (Beijing and Athens) and finished 6th both times.
