Daisuke Uehara

King, Daikon (Vancouver, 21 Mar 2010)

Winning a silver medal at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. (Athlete, 09 Mar 2018; Twitter profile, 17 Mar 2015)

US Para ice hockey player Mike Doyle. (Athlete, 10 Mar 2018)

He was born with spina bifida. (hohjinkai.or.jp, 02 Apr 2016; Vancouver, 21 Mar 2010)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2014 he established a non-profit organisation called D-SHiPS32 that encourages children with an impairment to participate in sports activities in Japan. "We don't have enough sports facilities and things for children in Japan. I really like working with children and I really want to make sports popular with children. It's important we involve children in sports. We need more for kids with disabilities." (pyeongchang2018.com, 05 Mar 2018; jammin.co.jp, 20 Sep 2017; theborderless.jp, 06 Oct 2016; hohjinkai.or.jp, 02 Apr 2016; COMMONSTV YouTube channel, 05 Oct 2015)

RETIREMENT AND RETURN
He retired from the sport in 2014, but returned to the national team in 2017 in order to compete at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The children he works with in the non-profit organisation D-SHiPS32 encouraged him to make a comeback. "They would say, 'When are you going to play again? We miss seeing you on the ice'. What could I say? I'm back." (pyeongchang2018.com, 05 Mar 2018; sledgejapan.org, 13 Sep 2017; mainichi.jp, 03 Jul 2017; sports-kokoro.jp, 11 Feb 2016)