How Funmi Oduwaiye overcame almost losing her leg to compete at Paris 2024
As one of the newest additions to Team GB’s Paralympic squad, Funmi Oduwaiye might not have made it onto your radar… yet.
The 21-year-old is one of the stars of Channel 4’s new documentary, Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams, which follows athletes funded by the National Lottery and their teams as they train for the biggest sports tournament in the world. In the one-off doc, cameras catch the moment that Funmi finds out she’s made the squad for her first ever games, and it’s a genuine tear-jerker.
Funmi’s parasport career began four years ago after damage to an artery during a routine operation on her knocked knees left her with nerve damage and paralysis in her left leg. At one point, medics had to break the news to Funmi and her devastated mum that there was a chance that she could lose her leg altogether.
It was the very definition of a life-changing injury, and set the then-teenage international basketball star on a totally different path - one which could see her winning a medal at the Paris Paralympic games.
Cardiff-born Funmi tells Women’s Health: ‘They're not sure if I'll ever recover, because nerves are really spontaneous, so it depends on whether it decides to regenerate or not. We're not sure how it will progress in the next few years, but right now, I still have a lot of pain, like constantly.
‘A lot of it is neurological pain. I can't explain how it feels, and I still can't feel my foot. I have limited feeling and hypersensitivity on the skin. I have to wear a splint when I walk to help me walk straight. When I'm walking, I can't really feel where I'm putting my foot. I can only really feel pain. I have to take a lot of painkillers, and at night I sleep wearing a sock as the skin is so sensitive.’
Amazingly, living with extreme pain hasn’t deterred Funmi from continuing her passion for competitive sport. After recovering from her operation, and on the advice of one of her former basketball teammates, she contacted a physio with links to the Paralympic team about getting involved.
Funmi admits that she initially hoped that she would be able to try all the different sports and pick her favourite - and harboured a dream of giving rowing a try. But her coach Josh Clark, and Welsh Paralympic legend Anthony Hughes, who tragically passed away in January this year aged 63, had other ideas.
She recalls: ‘They saw me, and they were like, “No, you're throwing”. I was like, “Yeah, I kind of wanted to try rowing and see how that goes...”.
‘We then started the throwing training, and I said, “OK, I still want to try it, but I'll do this for now”, and we just never did.’
She laughs: ‘I've never actually been rowing. I just wanted to try it. I think I'd be good at it though,’ adding that she is one of those ‘annoying people who is good at everything.’
It wasn’t just learning how to throw discus and shotput - while wearing a splint - which was a huge change for Funmi. The operation left her stranded from her comfort zone and lifelong happy place - team sports.
She says: ‘It's been hard, very hard, very hard. I do like team sports. Even in school, I was the weird one who liked working in team projects. But I'm glad this happened, in a way, because I get to find out a lot more about myself and know that the qualities that I have are not just because of my team, but because of the talent that I have and the talent that I bring.
‘I'm happy that I've explored this avenue, but it has been hard. I can't lie.’
In the Channel 4 documentary, it becomes clear that there’s a whole army of experts working behind the scenes to help Team GB's elite para sports stars - some with visible, physical disabilities, some without - get to the starting line and bring home a medal.
The money for this set-up comes from a familiar source. The National Lottery funds over 1,000 elite athletes, including Funmi, on the World Class Programme. This funding allows the athletes to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support.
Although she’s no longer playing in a team, Funmi is bolstered by the experts who support her to be, feel, and perform, at her best. Her team includes two physios, a nutritionist and a muscular specialist. She has regular meetings with them ‘dotted around’ her very intense training programme.
‘Monday, Wednesday, Fridays is strength and conditioning and Reformer work. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do mobility work in the morning and then training in the afternoon through to the evening. On Saturdays, I train in the morning, and I go for a walk every day,’ she says.
Paris will be Funmi’s first Paralympics, and she’s made a conscious effort to avoid seeing any ‘spoilers’ from the Athletes’ Village on TikTok. She told WH she’s excited to compete, but she’s also going to be making plenty of memories, and will be documenting her experience on a Polaroid camera.
Before I let her get back to training, I have to ask her what she hopes to achieve between now and when she turns thirty.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ she laughs. ‘I haven't thought until 22 yet! I want to get a medal in something, whether it's the Paralympics, European Championships, Commonwealth Games… I just want to get a medal in athletics.
‘Otherwise, I want to be able to take care of my family and be happy. Oh my gosh, that's my main one. I want to be happy. I am happy, but I want to be happier.’
National Lottery has invested more than £300 million in grassroots and elite sport. Path to Paris: Paralympic Dreams, featuring Funmi Oduwaiye, is on Channel 4 on Sunday 25 August at 4.55pm.
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