Extreme sports website set up for disabled (From The Oxford Times)

Extreme sports website set up for disabled

1:00pm Tuesday 17th July 2012 in Business By Sam McGregor, covering Bicester. Call me on 01869 250197

DESPITE being blind, Paul Nicol has tried it all – mountain climbing, white water rafting, rally driving and bungee jumping.

Now the adventurer has put his money where his mouth is and has set up a business giving other disabled people the chance to have an experience of a lifetime.

Calling it iCAN Experiences, Mr Nicol, 34, has researched a range of daredevil activities or pampering days to ensure the site and activity is suitable for disabled people.

Father-of-one Mr Nicol started to suffer problems with his eyesight when he was 14 and by the time he was 25, he was blind.

Since then he has flown in an acrobatic plane, done base jumping, kayaking, indoor skydiving and climbed 19,340ft to the top of Africa’s tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro.

He said: “When I was registered blind, a passion was awoken in me to try new things. I have become more active as time has gone by. Climbing Kilimanjaro was the most extreme.”

Because Mr Nicol, who is married to Emma, 33, and has a daughter Bethany, two, could not see the hazards during his mountain trek. He relied on the eyes of a Sherpa.

He said: “The big thing was summit day. It was a lot of hard work as you start off at 11pm and get back the next day at 4pm.”

Now he wants to share his sense of adventure with others.

Mr Nicol, of Fair Close, Bicester, gave up his job in customer support for Milton Park-based RM Education to set up the firm.

He said: “There are plenty of exciting activities open to people with disabilities, but I know from experience that you can spend many hours trying to work out what’s possible with your disability and what’s not. iCAN Experiences takes the hassle away because we’ve done all that research for you.

“It is through the partaking in a variety of activities that has boosted my confidence and allowed me to stretch my comfort zone.”

For more details, click on the link.