Coventry man paralysed in tree fall becomes doctor in Birmingham

The university paid tribute to Dr Van der Poll, whom it said had “aced” medical school and won an achievement award as well as excelling at several para sports including athletics, rowing and basketball.

He eventually found canoeing and now paddles a va’a – a one-person, double-hulled boat used for millennia in Polynesia and now used in paracanoe rowing.

Dr Van der Poll said: “People’s opinions are actually a lot more debilitating than your actual disability.

“People told me all sorts after the accident. During one medical placement, a doctor sat me down and listed all the things I couldn’t do.

“The funny thing was, the list was all based on assumptions, and none of the assumptions were actually true.”