Martine Wiltshire, MBE (née Wright; born 30 September 1972) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability organized by World ParaVolley. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play. History Sitting volleyball was invented in t ...

player. Wright, who was born in London, lost both of her legs in the Aldgate underground explosion in the 7/7 London bombings in 2005. She lost 80% of the blood in her body and was in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

for ten days and had to undergo ten months of surgeries following the injury. As part of her rehabilitation she played

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

before focusing on

. Wright was an initial member of the Great Britain women's squad which began playing together in late 2009, making her debut at the 2010 Kent International tournament against Paralympic Champions, China. In July 2012 she was picked to represent Great Britain's women's sitting volleyball team at the

event in the

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

. Wright was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2016 Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

for services to sport.

Personal life

Wright gained a degree in Psychology and Communication Studies from the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

in 1996. After the 7/7 bombings she campaigned for better compensation for victims of the bombings and their families and has been an ambassador for sport for disabled people.

References

Living people 1972 births British amputees Sportspeople from London Alumni of the University of East London English terrorism victims Paralympic volleyball players for Great Britain Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics British sitting volleyball players Members of the Order of the British Empire Survivors of terrorist attacks {{UK-sport-bio-stub