Matt Lewis (wheelchair rugby)
Australian wheelchair rugby player (born 1987)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matt Franklin Lewis (born 8 January 1987) is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics as a member of the Australian Steelers.[1][2]
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Lewis | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Bomber |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 8 January 1987 |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Australia |
| Sport | Wheelchair rugby |
| 3.5 | |
| Club | Victoria Protect Lightning |
Medal record | |
Personal
Lewis was born on 8 January 1987.[3] In 2011, at the age of 24, he was severely injured when making a home made bomb using a gas cylinder.[3][4] The bomb making operation went badly wrong and left him in an induced coma for just over a month. He lost most of his fingers and both his legs had to be amputated above the knees.[3][5] In addition, his hearing is impaired and he has many scars on his body.[6] In 2016, he was completing an electrical apprenticeship.[3] He assists programs that educate young people about the dangers of risk taking.[5]
Wheelchair rugby
Lewis was introduced to wheelchair rugby by Victorian coach Bryce Alman.[3] In 2013/14, he played for Seattle Storm in the USA national league for five months and won a number of MVP awards.[3][7] In 2014, he was selected to play for the national team the Australian Steelers.[3] In 2016, he was the MVP at the Wheelchair Rugby National Series.[8]
He was a member of the team that retained its gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics after defeating the United States 59–58 in the final.[9] He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2017.[10]
