Judith Hamer (born 3 December 1990) is a 4.0 point British

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player who represented Great Britain at the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Paralympic Games The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

. She won a Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for bravery and trekked across the

Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

as part of a reality television show, '' Beyond Boundaries''.

Biography

Judith Hamer was born in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on 3 December 1990, with a short thigh bone in her right leg. She could walk wearing crutches and special shoes. After some 18 operations over thirteen years to attempt to correct it, and with her

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

exams approaching, she told the doctors that enough was enough. In 2006 she had her right leg amputated below the knee. She won a Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for bravery. A few months later, she hiked across the

as part of a reality television show, '' Beyond Boundaries''. The idea of playing sport had not been uppermost in her mind, but in 2007 she became interested in

. She attended a UK Sport Talent Day, and began playing for a local club in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, the Otters in 2007, as a 4.0 point player. The

Lord's Taverners The Lord's Taverners is a UK youth cricket and disability sports charity. Its charitable objective is to empower and positively impact the lives of young people facing challenges of inequality. Lord's Taverners was founded in 1950 by a group ...

gave her a £2,000 custom-made wheelchair basketball chair. in 2009, she made her international debut at the

Paralympic World Cup The Paralympic World Cup was an annual international multi-sport event for elite athletes with a disability, that was hosted in Manchester, England, from 2005 until 2012. It was announced in 2013, that the Paralympic World Cup had been scraped fo ...

. She played with the national side at the European championships, at which they won bronze. They went on to win bronze again in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Hamer won bronze at the Women's U25 World Championships in

St Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

in 2011, and silver at the Women's U25 European Championships in 2013. She was also part of the team at the

2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Game ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. "I think we may be at our best for

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

in 2016," she told reporters beforehand, "but 2012 will be the biggest thing I ever do, and I won't be able to play at a home Paralympics ever again." The British women's wheelchair basketball team came 7th in London; but Hamer, now a

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

student at the

University of Worcester The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. History In 1946 an Emerg ...

, was selected as part of the team for the

. The British team produced its best ever performance at the Paralympics, making it to the semi-finals, but lost to the United States, and then the bronze medal match to the Netherlands.

Personal life

Hamer is engaged to

Lauren Rowles Lauren Rachel Catherine Rowles (born 24 April 1998) is a British parasport rower and former wheelchair athlete. She won gold with Laurence Whiteley in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls (TAMix2x) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.The pair repea ...

, a parasport rower.

Achievements

* 2009: Bronze at European Wheelchair Basketball Championship (

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

, United Kingdom) * 2010: Sixth at

2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held in Birmingham, Great Britain from 7 to 17 July 2010. Both the men's and women's tournaments were held. The Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. ...

(

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, United Kingdom) * 2011: Bronze at European Wheelchair Basketball Championship (

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, Israel) * 2012: Seventh at

(

, United Kingdom) * 2013: Bronze at European Championships (

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany) * 2014: Fifth at the

World Wheelchair Basketball Championship The IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championship (World Championships from 1973 to 2002 (2006) known as Gold Cup) is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the I ...

(

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada) * 2015: Bronze at the European Championships (

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, England) *2016: Fourth at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

(

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil) * 2017: Bronze at the European Championships (

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, Spain) * 2018: Silver at the

2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the Edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg, Germany, from 16 to 26 August 2018. Both men's and women's tournaments were held, with 12 women's and 16 men's teams competing, representing 19 di ...

(

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Judith 1990 births Living people Basketball players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games British women's wheelchair basketball players Commonwealth Games competitors for Scotland English amputees English LGBTQ sportspeople Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Great Britain Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon Sportspeople from Derby Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics 21st-century British sportswomen