AN ASPIRING physiotherapist who was left wheelchair-bound following a 10mph motorbike accident has competed in a gruelling triathlon, weeks after winning a glittering nineteen gold medals at two international competitions. 

Nerys Pearce of Ascot has returned triumphant from the Ironman event in Bolton, where her team completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bicycle ride and 26 mile marathon run in 11 hours, 50 minutes. 

She also recently took part in the European Sports Championships in Baku in Azerbaijan where she won eight gold medals. 

The event includes archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball and wrestling. 

Nerys, 33, also completed in the challenging Warrior Games - an international competition for wounded service members for the first time - in Quantico in Virginia and tallied up an impressive collection of 11 gold medals and one silver. 

After taking part in the handbike cycling, track and field events, shot put and discus and swimming and basketball, she said: “It was amazing and so great to see lots of people who have been injured to get back involved in sport and we got that camaraderie and spirit you miss from the military.

“Help for Heroes sponsored 26 of us to fly out there for it. The games are kind of like the paralympics of the military.”

Nerys was left paralysed from the chest down following a smash in London in 2008 when a car unexpectedly pulled out of a driveway and over a raised kerb in front of her - despite the fact she was only travelling at 10mph. 

The keen athlete went from training for 23 hours a week with the Territorial Army and taking part in triathlons, running, swimming and mountaineering, to being unable to lead an independent life. 
After her symptoms worsened, she has suffered from numerous health conditions. 

She said: “It changed everything, the dynamic with family and friends are lost my job, I had to restart.”

After being at home by herself n November for 16 weeks she looked up local sports clubs and stumbled across sports disability charity SportsAble, who helped her get back into sports. 

She is also involved with Help for Heroes and the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association.

She plans to take part in the Enduroman event in September, from London’s Marble Arch to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe.