Last month I had a very excited phone call from my dad telling me that my uncle had 2 spare tickets to the Paralympic athletics on the 2nd September and wanted to take me and my younger brother. Yeah I have no idea why my dad was excited either as the tickets weren't for him.

I wasn't really into the Olympics and didn't really see that the Paralympics would be any more fun to watch so I said my other brother could go instead.

As the date got nearer and the hype for the Paralympics began I got drawn into the excitement and started kicking myself for letting my brother have my ticket. Then a stroke of luck for me (not so much for my brother) meant that he couldn't get time off work. The ticket was mine again.

Then Twitter and the internet kind of freaked me out. I kept seeing negative posts about disabled people struggling to get tickets/parking/help etc and how un-disabled friendly the whole thing was. (Is un-disabled even a word...it is now). I started dreading going. Of course it didn't help that my Uncle had said we were going on the train. I'm not very good on public transport and I panic. I've had a few bad experiences, especially in London. I also knew our seats weren't in the wheelchair area and that I'd have to climb stairs so I knew I couldn't take my chair.

Luckily my Uncle knew I was stressing out and managed to book a disabled parking space and he drove us down. It did mean that I had to fold myself into the back of his clio but it did have a surprising amount of leg room for a small car. I mean I'm short anyway so didn't need that much but it was manageable for a long journey. However my wheelchair wouldn't fit in the boot so I was rocking knee, ankle and wrist supports with my crutches and Paralympic tee.

When we arrived it suddenly dawned on me how much hobbling I would have to do so I mentally prepared myself for the immense pain and possible death (may be a slight exaggeration) which was bound to cripple me the next day. We got to the lift of the car park, which was about a 5-10min walk from the Olympic park, and a lovely man asked if I would like a lift to the park entrance in a wheelchair. I accepted relieved and he told me that I could get a chair to use in the park as well. When I said that it would be extremely helpful he took me to the mobility tent where another lovely lady sorted me out with a chair to use for the day. When I told her about our seats she assured me that there were special areas where you could leave your chair when you were in your seats.

Getting to the security and through the gates was really busy but the officials stopped people to let us through so that I didn't get crushed. Having the chair meant that I got to explore so much more of the Olympic park than I would have been able to if I'd been hobbling on my crutches.

We parked the chair to go to our seats and were even told that they might be able to change my seat but they didn't think we would all be able to move together so I chose to sit with my family. They were really lovely and guided me to a lift which took us halfway to our seats which meant I only hand about 25-30 steps to climb instead of over 70. My brother was amazing an gave encouragement and held me do it slowly and had breaks with me. It was a bitch to do and my muscles were spasming and knees were killing me by the time I reached my seat but the view was worth it. The seats weren't the comfiest and my back was hurting but it was worth it. Seeing David Weir get the gold was amazing. The atmosphere was incredible and I don't think I've ever screamed and cheered so much. I'm not really into sports but I really enjoyed watching them all especially the running. Those athletes are amazing.

Going back down the steps was even worse but everyone, spectators and officials, were really helpful and lovely. I was offered plenty of help and no one moaned about being stuck behind me going ridiculously slowly. Everywhere that I went was accessible and there was always someone willing to help. I am so glad that I went. It was an unforgettable experience and I couldn't have asked for better service. The payback pain, which would have been a billion times worse without the chair, was definitely worth it.