Liversedge paralympian legend Paul Cartwright inducted in Hall of Fame

The honour is in recognition of Paul's achievements in disability sport as one of the trailblazers who paved the way for today's national stars like Hannah Cockcroft and David Weir.

From athletics to angling, Paul has been a sportsman of renown and all despite being born with spina bifida, a condition where the spine and spinal cord does not develop properly, leaving a gap in the spine.

He started wheelchair racing in 1978 and competed at the 1984 Paralympic Games in the first-ever wheelchair marathon, an event in which he achieved the British record.

"I was the David Weir of the 1980s and the first British wheelchair racer to get into a Paralympic final I believe," said Paul.

"I held all the British records from 100m to marathon distance at one time and even had a world ranking,

"I have also been a national champion at various events, including junior wheelchair basketball, pentathlon, coarse angling as part of a team twice, and UK powerlifting champion twice.

"I also train in martial arts, believe it or not much to the surprise of the new chaps that my martial arts Sensai puts with me."

Paul continued to compete up to 1987 when he burnt his foot and took a break to recover from the injury.

He came back in 1990 briefly to compete in the National Paraplegic Games and won the pentathlon event.

Upon his retirement in 1990 Paul rekindled his love of fishing and became the organiser of the regional office for the Disabled Course Fishing for the North East on behalf of what was the National Federation of Anglers.

As a team they won two national championships as more success came for Paul, who admits to being hugely competitive.

He added: "It's taken the best part of 40 years to get to where I am and I am honoured to have been inaugurated in the Heritage Museum.

"Although I’ve always been a wheelchair user, I’ve been through quite a bit in recent years and I had to lose both legs at knee level.

"I had the second one taken by local anaesthetic, had two weeks bed rest, my stitches and clips out and was back in the Dojo training that night. That's just the sort of bloke I am, I just get on with it, not brave."