Shark Tale . . . Why Toby Richardson is Determined to Take a Big Bite Out of Life

Shark bite is the fishy story Toby Richardson enjoys spinning. 

However, Richardson’s real back story is every bit as dramatic and inspirational as any Shark Tale.

Four years ago, at the age of 11, the rugby-loving youngster started suffering from back pains. 

A rapid deterioration, which saw him lose control of the lower half of his body, resulted in Richardson being rushed to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Following an MRI scan, Richardson was blue-lighted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. 

There he underwent an eight-hour emergency operation on a previously undetected cancerous tumour which had developed in and around his spine.

Surgeons were able to remove 70 per cent of the tumour but also had to remove sections of Richardson’s vertebrae.

Three-months’ rehabilitation and care in hospital was followed by a search for what sports the active youngster would still be able to participate in.

“Sport means such a lot to me,” said Richardson, who lives near Bristol.  “I was naturally sporty, anyway. I used to do able-bodied rugby. It was mind blowing when everything happened.” 

Toby Richardson and fellow Welsh athlete Owen Terrell in action in Cardiff. Pic: Owen Morgan

Wheelchair rugby looked a possibility, but a zoom call from Great Britain Paralympian Nathan Maguire provided the inspiration Richardson needed.

Maguire, himself was paralysed at the age of eight, but has become one of the nation’s top wheelchair racers, winning gold medals at both the European Para Athletics Championships and the Commonwealth Games. The 28-year-old also won a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Richardson says of their meeting: “Nathan was showing me all his gold medals, and he was telling me how his wife, Hannah, had more medals than him.”

Maguire’s wife is none other than Paralympian Hannah Cockroft, who has nine Paralympic gold medals to her name and countless other global titles.

“It was really funny and it really made me want gold medals of my own,” said Richardson. 

“It just gave me a real boost about what I might be able to do.

“With sport you have to just take the positives out of it, never take the negatives, it’s really good like that.

“I would really like to go to the Commonwealth Games and LA 2028 for the Paralympics. I'm hopefully on track at the moment.”

Toby Richardson after winning the Welsh 1500m title in Cardiff. Pic: Owen Morgan

Since that life-changing call with Maguire, Richardson has barely looked back with his racing career going from strength to strength.

The Wrexham-born youngster’s performances earned him a place on the Welsh Athletics National Development Programme alongside the country’s most young promising talent, including fellow wheelchair racer Owain Terrell (Newport Harriers).

Richardson’s progress was further enhanced by the guidance of coach Mickey Bushell MBE, who won gold in the T53 category over 100m at the London Paralympics and a clutch of other international medals including gold at the 2014 European Championships in Swansea.

2025 has been a real break-through year for Richardson with a string of titles and personal bests to his name across the United Kingdom and further afield.

The Yate and District AC athlete’s season has seen him travel to Portugal, Switzerland and Austria as well as extensively throughout the UK.

READ MORE: Owain Terrell Has The Talent And Drive To Reach The Top . . . All He Needs Now Is A New Chair

In Portugal, he was part of the Welsh Athletics warm weather training camp which featured athletes from its three performance pathways.

The Yate and District Athletics Club and Welsh Anglos competitor said: “Welsh Athletics have been very supportive. 

When I went out to Portugal with them, it was brilliant because you had a whole big team - it was great the way we all worked together.”

The trip to Switzerland saw him gain his international racing classification as well as competing at the same meetings as Maguire, Cockroft and legendary Swiss athlete Marcel Hug – known around the world as the Silver Bullet.

At the prestigious World Para Athletics Nottwil Grand Prix in Switzerland, Richardson was the youngest of the 38 athletes competing in his category. 

The T54 athlete placed first in the 100m, second over 800n and third over 400m – registering new personal bests over 400m and 800m.

Less than a week later, at the Weltklasse am See event in Arbon, Switzerland, Richardson once again set new PBs of 54.84 and 1:49.10 in the 400m and 800m respectively. 

Richardson said after his performances in Switzerland: “It was a very quick track – the quickest in the world. I didn't think it'd be that quick, but it definitely was. It was mind blowing how quick. It got my confidence through the roof, to be honest, it was so good.”

READ MORE: Welsh Athletes Ready to Feel The Power of the Dragon As Commonwealth Games Countdown Begins

That confidence showed at June’s Welsh Senior Athletics Championships in Cardiff, where Richardson won the 200m and 1500m titles – the second being achieved by knocking a huge 20 seconds off the PB he had set in Vienna a fortnight earlier.

Richardson had started the year with a bang in March by emulating Maguire when he won the TCS London Mini Marathon over 10K. 

This victory came just two weeks after setting a new 100m PB of 16.14 at his home track in Yate.

Last week, he was back at Yate competing for his club in the Midlands League, where true to form he was once again victorious over 200m and 400m.

Richardson’s exploits have also seen him build an online presence, which is where he introduces himself as having been bitten by a shark, because “it sounds way cooler than ‘I have cancer’!”

Following an outstanding season, Richardson’s remarkable resilience and strength in overcoming huge adversity are plenty cool to be going on with.