Paralympic athlete and world javelin thrower, Nathan Stephens married his fiancée Charlene Beard at the weekend and promised his bride that they would have the first dance at the wedding reception.

Nathan, who lost his legs when he was just 9 years old whilst playing on a train track, had been secretly practising the dance with his wife for 8 months before their wedding.

He stunned wedding guests when he swopped his Küschall^® wheelchair for a pair of prosthetic legs and took to the dance floor.  The couple performed a three minute routine in front of 130 guests to their favourite song ‘I won’t give up’ by Jason Mraz.

Nathan, 25 originally from Bridgend said; ‘I wanted to dance with Charlene more than anything but not pushing myself along in my wheelchair. I was adamant I was going to do it on my legs and if I set my mind to something, I always get there.

’‘We practised for eight months in our living room and no one at the wedding had a clue.  It was all a bit new to me because I’d never danced before but after a while we threw in a few twirls.’ He has owned a pair of prosthetic legs for years but dislikes using them as they are agony to wear.

At the age of 16 Nathan broke the British senior records in javelin, discus and shot put.  He then went on to successfully compete in both winter and summer Paralympics in 2006 and 2008, and later on broke the world record for men’s javelin with a distance of 41.37 metres.

Invacare offered Nathan a Küschall^® carbon frame K-series with a Matrx MX1 back fitted for his wedding.
Nathan and Charlene were married at the Celtic Manor Golf Resort, Newport, South Wales and will fly out to Sardinia for their honeymoon on Saturday 24 August. 

We wish them a happy married life! 

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