Para-athlete Jack Adams takes on Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge
It was in primary school in England that Jack Adams realised he was a little bit different from other kids.
Adams was born with an Ulnar club hand, a rare congenital malformation which consists of an underdeveloped or missing ulnar bone in the hand and forearm.
“I remember being five or six and another kid in my class trying to bend my fingers straight,” Adams said. “‘I can straighten those for you’. That’s probably the earliest memory I have,”
Now a primary school teacher in Gisborne, he reckons he’s heard it all. His Gisborne Central School students have asked whether it was a shark attack or had he been in an accident.
“I had a girl ask ‘Did you dip your hand in chocolate and eat your fingers when you were a baby.”
Adams has never shied away from giving sports a go, something his parents encouraged early on.
In March, he competed in the NZ Track and Field Championships winning a silver medal in javelin and a bronze in shot put.
Para-athlete Jack Adams broke the New Zealand record for Men Para Open F46.
He also broke a New Zealand record in the shot put for his category - Men Para Open F46. F46 is for field athletes with moderately affected movement in one or both arms or the absence of limbs.
“I’ve played football since I was tiny growing up in England. As I got older, I started cycling and did that for years and years, and then just picked up athletics the last couple of years,” he said.
Adams’ next endeavour is the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge in November to raise money for Heart Kids New Zealand.
“I’ve dealt with kids who have been affected by heart conditions. I just want to give back and help out,” he said.
“I’m doing the 80km gravel, which is a bit of a step up for me. I’ve not done a big race like that.”
Like a lot of young kids growing up, Adams wanted to be a firefighter. It was also a teacher who helped him fulfil his childhood dream.
“The woodwork teacher at school was the chief of the brigade. He said, ‘Come down, we’ll take you’. I went along and from the first training, I just loved it.”
Adams moved to Gisborne in 2019 and has been a part of the Gisborne volunteer brigade for three and a half years. He also volunteers his time to coach representative football.
“I just want to show other people that you can do stuff even if you do it slightly differently.
“I don’t want to let anything hold me back because I want to show the kids that they can do it.”
