Rugby player overcomes losing legs in accident to become a model

A RUGBY player who lost his legs after being hit by a police van is moving into the world of modelling.

Daniel Gallagher was seriously injured

in the accident in Brodick, Isle of Arran, in April last year. He had been in the area for a rugby sevens competition.

He

spent two weeks in a coma in Glasgow following the collision and doctors were forced to amputate both legs as they battled to save his life.

Now though tenacious Daniel is now moving forward in an effort to achieve a life-long dream.

Daniel

said: “One of my friends said ‘you should do modelling’ so one night I just Googled ‘disabled modelling agencies’ and I saw one for Talent Management and thought it looked decent and there were reviews on it and

people giving feedback.

“I applied and it gave me an email back asking for two photos. I had to wait a couple of days to get accepted.

“They

will set up auditions and your portfolio and give you feedback from the

clients. They asked if I was willing to travel and I’d love to travel.

“I’m

really into my sports – my wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and

wheelchair racing – so they asked if I would do sports shoots and I accepted from there.

“On their website it will offer a list of jobs and you can apply for it and they look at your portfolio and if you are what they want they will contact the agency and book you.

He

added: “I hope to do as much modelling as I can and not be too high maintenance, like most models are once they become a model – they get this persona ‘I’m better than everyone else’ but they’re not really. It’s what you are paid to do, it’s a job.”

Since

losing his legs Daniel says he has grown into a more confident person and feels the accident has given him drive to try and achieve something he was wary of before.

He said: “I’m excited because I always wanted to be a model but I never had

the confidence to go and do it and I think being in a wheelchair has given me more of a confidence boost in that respect.

“Before,

when I was able-bodied, the only way to get into proper modelling would

be to have the toned body and I only really had the muscular legs and nothing else – everything else was chubby.

“Now I have more muscle and am more defined that I was before.”

Daniel said he feels physically fitter and stronger now than before his accident

He laughed: “I know I’m lighter but that’s only because I have no legs.”

“The

physio will continue. I’m still getting physio three hours a week. I don’t think I have any more operations but I still have to go for scans to make sure everything is in working order.

“I

had an aortic transection and every six months I get a scan.” After waking from his coma Daniel admits modelling was the furthest thing from

his mind as he came to terms with the aftermath of the accident.

He

said: “The last thing on my mind was modelling but I have built up this

exterior where nothing fazes me anymore – you either go all in or you just don’t do it at all. I’d rather go all in and do the things I wanted

to before and give it a go and at least say I have tried.”

Daniel

said his family had been “surprised” by his attempt to break into the world of modelling but had “got used to the idea”. The former winger played for Peterhead RFC prior to the incident and in the 18 months since he has taken up several wheelchair sports.

Although

he misses the sport he used to play regularly Daniel cannot take part in wheelchair rugby – also known as murderball – at a competitive level.

He said: “I’m not disabled enough. You have to have three of four limb impairments. I have full function in my arms.

Daniel

said he felt back to his normal self following the accident and hoped that he would be able to return to his job as a graphic designer soon.

His former teammates have raised more than £23,000 to help with his recovery through a series of fundraising events.

Friend

and teammate Mike Reeves said: “I am hoping that Dan isn’t asked to model footwear as that could be a bit problematic. I and all his teammates wish him well in his new venture.”

Rugby player overcomes losing legs in accident to become a model