Sporting community saddened by loss of Blackpool's five-time Paralympian David Heaton

David Heaton won a medal at his first Paralympics in 1992 and contested his last at London 2012

The whole Fylde coast sporting community has been saddened by the death of the hugely popular Blackpool Paralympian David Heaton at the age of 47.

A national and international champion as a wheelchair fencer, David represented Great Britain at five Paralympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the sabre competition at the first of those in Barcelona in 1992.

Having come out of international retirement for an unforgettable Paralympic farewell at the London Games of 2012, David served as chairman of the British Disabled Fencing Association from 2013 to 2017.

He was winning an 18-month battle against bladder cancer when he succumbed to renal failure last Saturday.

Widow Cindy, whom David married in 2009, told The Gazette: “So many people have been in touch from all over the world and it has been overwhelming. To me, he was just David and he kept me young.

“The common denominator in all the messages is that David was a joker. He brought fun and laughter to everyone who knew him and that’s why he was so well loved. He had a wonderful relationship with my three children and our seven grandchildren adore him.

“He had decided to stop competing internationally after the Athens Paralympics (2004) but then got a call out of the blue from the GB team in 2010, saying they needed another full-time wheelchair user for the team.

“David couldn’t resist trying for a home Games and he gave everything to earn his selection.”

Those efforts were worthwhile as competing for the men’s foil team at London 2012, aged 39, provided some of David’s most magical memories.

He also served as mentor to the biggest-ever GB fencing team that year, one otherwise made up entirely of first-time Paralympians and including his Blackpool protege, Justine Moore.

Reflecting on his career after London, David told The Gazette in 2012: “Barcelona will always be a highlight because I won a medal when I was only 18 but I’ve never experienced anything like London.

“After Athens, when I reached the quarter-finals and lost to the eventual champion, I thought I was done. But I managed to make the team for London and I’ve never enjoyed myself so much.

“We competed in front of sellout crowds at the ExCeL and I took away so many memories.”

A passionate Seasiders fan, who lived close to the Bloomfield Road club where Cindy works, David said he gained extra inspiration for London 2012 by watching his team beat Ipswich Town 6-0 the day before leaving for the Paralympic Village.

Another inspiration was his long-time friend, coach Brian Dickinson: another Blackpool Paralympian.

Brian, an MBE for his services to wheelchair fencing over more than half a century, played a major part in David’s sporting story.

They met shortly after a road accident had left David in a wheelchair at the age of 11 and Brian recalled: “He came to one of our Fylde Wheelchair Sports sessions at Thornton Cleveleys Sports Centre. We were playing basketball at the time and he joined in.

“As a fencer myself, I introduced him to the sport straight away. David started as a novice junior and we took it from there.

“He won national and international competitions while I was coaching him, and after he got into the Great Britain team, I still saw a lot of him because he always lived nearby.

“I remember how determined he was to make that team for London 2012. He entered the 2011 national championships and won two gold medals.

“Wheelchair sport is such a great community and everyone liked David, who had a great sense of humour. He was just a great sportsman.”

Fellow Blackpool Paralympic medallist Shelly Woods, a GB teammate of Heaton’s at London 2012, said: “We always had a catch-up and reminisced whenever we saw each other. David was a great guy, who will be sorely missed.”

Paralympics GB’s former team manager Caz Walton described Heaton as: “A hugely talented fencer, he represented Great Britain at five Paralympic Games and numerous European and World Championships.

“He was a popular figure internationally and a great ambassador for his country. David retired from international sport after London 2012 but continued to put time and effort back into the sport he loved.

“He was a caring, humorous and much-loved man and his passing, much too young, leaves a hole a mile wide in our hearts.”