JACOB PICKERING

Jacob, 14, was born without his left forearm due to congenital upper limb deficiency. But this hasn’t stopped him playing the game he’s loved since he was a small child.

At the age of 8, Jacob was spotted by his rugby coach playing in a football game. ‘I was just bowling the other kids over and my coach came up to me and asked if I’d like to give rugby a go. I went along and never looked back’. Jacob soon started playing contact rugby aged 9 and it’s the part of the game he loves most ‘I just love tackling! Not something you get the chance to do in football’.

Jacob has never let his physical challenge hold him back or put him off. His parents feel exactly the same. They just want him to have fun and enjoy the game. But how others perceive Jacob playing hasn’t been lost on them. Jacob’s mother recalled overhearing parents at a game discussing her son ‘They didn’t know I was listening or that I was his mum, but I heard them say that kid is really good. They sounded shocked. Like they weren’t expecting him to be as good as he was. I thought that was funny’. People put expectations on Jacob that neither he nor his parents ever have.