'I was standing at the bar and my leg snapped in two': From shock diagnosis to Paralympic ambition

Refusing to let amputation sideline him from sport, Jake Woods is rebuilding his athletic career – only this time it’s his hands turning the pedals

Jake Woods in his handbike
(Image credit: Future)

This article was originally published in Cycling Weekly's print edition as part of the long-running MY FITNESS CHALLENGE series.

"I remember sitting in the bath on a Sunday night and thinking about who on the squad was faster than me and how I would beat them.” Jake Woods is retracing the emergence of his competitive instinct as a teenage swimmer – leaving behind his inactive child self and transforming into an athletic man. “As I lost weight and gained confidence, I built myself up through my own sheer will.” Over the next few years he reached national level in the pool, qualified as a beach lifeguard in his native Sunderland, and while at university threw himself into triathlon. “My first race was a half-Ironman,” he grins, “and I did just over six hours, which I thought was totally fine as a first attempt.” 

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