For Patrick Flanagan the journey to his first Paralympics has been a complicated one, the Longford swimmer enduring a day of high stress last Friday when his wheelchair was broken during the first leg of his journey from Dublin to London.

He thought long and hard before venting his anger publicly following the incident, and several days on the feeling hasn’t subsided.

“One thing I tried to get across was to the (airline) industry in general: it’s never something that should occur,” he says.

“A wheelchair isn’t something that can be flung around the place. My wheelchair is my independence.”

Flanagan has spina bifida and competes in the S6 category at the Paralympics, where he will target the 400m freestyle, his first race taking place on 2 September.

After departing from Dublin last Friday he was distressed upon arrival in Heathrow Airport to find his wheelchair damaged to the point of being unusable.

“It was tough to take, it’s such an emotional time anyway, the excitement and happiness, and something like that happening is devastating.

“I was so lucky it happened when I was travelling to the Games with a team around to help me, how to organise getting my old chair sent out. The timing was unfortunate but it was fortunate I wasn’t travelling by myself.”

Flanagan called his family back home in Rosses Point, Sligo, and they transported his old chair to Dublin Airport. With more Irish team members departing the following day, they were able to bring it to London and onwards to Tokyo.

The thing he wants to get across now is how often the same thing happens to other wheelchair users and how those responsible likely have no idea of the implications.

“I was really surprised by the reaction,” he says. “I was in a position to talk about something like that and I felt a responsibility to do so. It’s a message to the industry in general that more responsibility needs to be taken.

“It’s a bit of understanding and realisation that a wheelchair is irreplaceable. I’m lucky I have a simple wheelchair, if it happened to someone with a bigger electric wheelchair, it’s even harder to replace. It’s something that can’t happen, it’s completely upending for you.”

Flanagan’s wheelchair is fitted to his specifications and the process of replacing it can take up to six months.

“I’ve looked into getting a fitting date for my next wheelchair, you might meet with four or five brands then find what works for you, then meet them again and do a sizing, then meet again and do more minute adjustments. Being left in a situation where you have no chair, it’s not a quick fix, it’s a significant period of time.”

Since arriving at the Irish holding camp outside Tokyo everything has been smooth sailing for the Longford native. “We’re enjoying ourselves now, my body clock is back to normal and I’m swimming well,” he says.

“This is my first Paralympics so everything seems so amazing to me. My headspace is, I want to take all of this in. It’s the final preparations so it’s about enjoying it all and see what happens in the pool.”

With Covid cases hitting record highs in Tokyo in recent weeks the procedures are as tight as he expected, with every team member doing daily antigen testing and not allowed to leave the hotel to go anywhere but the swimming pool.

“It’s strict but necessary,” says Flanagan. “It doesn’t feel like a chore, we know they’re doing it to protect us. We won’t get to see any of Tokyo itself but that’s a sacrifice most are willing to make.”

His goal in Tokyo? It’s less to do with a specific place as it has to do with his performance.

“My focus is to swim a lifetime best and put out the best version of myself,” he says. “If that gets me into a final anything can happen.”