A WOMAN who has dedicated her life to coaching disabled sports stars has been chosen to be a Paralympic torch bearer.

Archery expert Helen George from Seaton Delaval was selected to carry the flame for her tireless work in supporting the Paralympic archery team who will represent Great Britain at this summers games.

Her leg of the torch relay will start after the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics at Stratford and before the Paralympic games begin on August 29.

Helen, 67, said: I am so happy to have been chosen. It is extra special to me because I will be carrying it from Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, which is where my career in archery all began.

After a career in the Womens Royal Air Force, Helen took up archery on a whim after her husband Tony, 64, joined a local club when they lived in the South of England 20 years ago.

She then spent a weekend as part of the support team in Stoke Mandeville for the World Championships in the early 1990s which gave her the archery bug.

She said: Tony took up archery but it just took over and its our life now and all our friends are archers. Stoke Mandeville is where Paralympic sport really started and its a fabulous place so to carry it from there makes it really special.

Following the couples move to the North East she joined the Killingworth Archers and represented the county before an injury forced her to give up the competitive side of the sport.

My doctor said I would have to give up so I started on the coaching, added Helen. Ive been working as a team leader and running courses for soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Ive met some incredible young people.

She now personally coaches Paralympic hopeful, GB archer Katy Murray, who will take part in this summers games.

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Rewarded for her dedication