Birthdate: May 26th, 1983
Hometown: Orton, ON
Sport: Wheelchair Basketball, Sledge Hockey
Bradley was born with sacral agenesis, an abnormality of the lower spine similar to spina bidfida. According to the National Post, babies born with this congenital disorder have abnormal development of the lower spine. Sometimes doctors choose to amputate the non-functioning legs of children affected to help improve mobility.
His love of sports began at age 13, when he began playing sledge hockey for the Kitchener Sidewinders. At 15, he was selected for the national team. He cites his grandmother, Colleen Nelson, as the most influential person in his life. His mom was a single mother, and struggled to manage the house, so his grandmother quit her job to take care of Bradley full-time. It was her that encouraged him to get outside and play sports: “I never wanted to get of the house to try sledge hockey, but she forced me to go. She knew me better than anybody.”
As a member of Ontario’s Wheelchair Basketball Team, he won a gold medal in 1999, and a bronze medal in 2003, at the Canada Games. He was also a member of Team Canada, who won Gold at the 2001 World Junior championships in Blumenau, Brazil. He continued his winning ways in basketball, winning gold both as a member of Team Canada at the 2004 Paralympic Games (Athens), and as a member of the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team at the Paralympic Games (Torino) in 2006. At the Torino, he scored the game-winning goal.
Commendably, he is one of the few Paralympic athletes to win gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Games.
His strongest motivation, he says, is the competition: ““No matter how good you are, there’s always somebody out there who’s better.” I think that every player who’s highly skilled and motivated needs to remember that.”
For his achievements, Bradley was named best forward at the 2009 Sledge Hockey World Championships, and team MVP at the 2010 Winter Paralympics. In 2019, he was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame. He was also the first Paralympian inducted into the Orangeville Hall of Fame.
He recently studied design and visual arts at Georgian College.
Nowadays, you can find Bradley on social media at thebow27 (Facebook), bradbowden27MedalRecord (Instagram), @Bow27 (Twitter), and on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVUKsMCICW4