ParalympicsGB rugby wheelchair heroes going for gold again in Paris 2024

• ITV Granada Reports sports correspondent Mike Hall went along to meet ParalympicsGB wheelchair rugby team

A sport providing a lifeline for many is hoping to inspire people once more as ParalympicsGB look to bring home gold in Paris.

The British wheelchair rugby team helped make the sport an instant hit, and one of the most popular, during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Nearly one and a half million people tuned in to watch Great Britain beat the USA to win gold three years ago - inspired by players like Stuart Robinson, a former RAF Corporal from Morecambe and one of the best players in the world.

"Even looking back on it now you still get the goosebumps," he says.

"It was just an amazing feeling because the face we'd won the gold medal after so many opportunities and coming close yet so far.

"From a personal perspective I think about eight years before I was lay in hospital thinking 'where am I going to go next with my life and my career' and things like that, and to be there on the court in Japan winning that gold medal was just a surreal moment."

The sport, which has often been described as "chess with violence" and "bumper cars with a ball" saw Stuart gain a MBE - which he could not believe at first.

"It wasn't my first thought when the letter came in the post with the official emblem on the outside of the envelope, my initial thought was I was getting a speeding ticket," he said.

"When I opened it it was a great surprise."

The players say, three years after winning gold, they are ready to reignite the excitement for the sport once more.

Jason Brisbane, CEO of GB Wheelchair Rugby, says it provides something few other sports do.

"I think wheelchair rugby captured the nation's interest because it's a team sport but also no other sport looks like it," he said.

"The smashing and the crashing of the chairs, the emotion, the range of inclusive elements of it, there's that camaraderie you don't see in other sports."

The sport is providing a lifeline for so many, with participation up 30% since Tokyo.

New faces have also been forcing their way into the British squad, including Crewe's Kieran Flynn who says it gave his life purpose once more.

"I played rugby union and in 2013 I was injured in a tip-tackle. I was lifted upside down, dropped on my head and broke my neck in three places and suffered a spinal chord injury," he said.

"At that time life looked quite bleak, I ballooned up to 21st and when I found wheelchair rugby it gave me a purpose in life again.

"For me it's all about overcoming obstacles and everybody has their own journey, but with a bit of hard work and determination you can achieve anything."

Also in the 12-strong squad is Dan Kellett from Chester who, in 2012, suffered a spinal injury when he was thrown from and then crushed by a tractor.

Dan said it is a proud moment for him, wife Jess and their three young children.

"The last six months [my children] have started to realise daddy's going away to play rugby, he's going to the paralympics.

"They're going to nursery telling everyone I've been selected for the paralympics, so that's nice to hear."

The action gets underway on 29 August.