Daniella Jade Lowe accompanied wheelchair racer Jessica Lewis to the London Paralympics in September. These are her reports about the first Bermudian to compete in track and field events at the Paralympic GamesThe Opening CeremonyThe Paralympic Games have begun and everyone is in great anticipation of what is to come. The atmosphere around the Olympic Stadium during the opening was electric. Thousands of people came from all over the world to cheer on their athletes. Paralympians from around the globe arrived, in uniform, to represent their countries. Even though the weather was damp and overcast, it did not dampen the hearts of the many expectant participants and spectators. The overall presentation of the Olympic Stadium was very impressive at its highest level.As a journalist who is a wheelchair user, I was very proud to witness my first Games and to represent Bermuda as a journalist. My job was to report on Bermudian Paralympian, Jessica Lewis, who competed in three events for Wheelchair Track, including the 100, 200 and 400 metre races. This was very exciting as she was the only Bermudian competitor at the 2012 Paralympics, and the first to represent Bermuda at athletics.This historic Paralympics returned the event to its birthplace, with 3,000 volunteers on hand at the Opening Ceremony. The host, Matt Fraser, got the 62,000 strong audience hyped up with the Mexican Wave. Then there was a demonstration of the Massive Apple Bite, during which pixels in the shape of apples were reflected into the audience. After that, Heart n Soul's Fish Police entertained the crowd.Following this, Jacqui Beckford taught the 62,000 strong audience to sign “I am somebody, I am what I am” a message which was beamed to the rest of the World. She then asked the whole audience to say hello to The Children's Promise. As part of London''s bid to host the 2012 Games, a UK wide request was made for all babies born on December 20, 2004 to be registered with The Children's Promise. Many of these children, now seven years old, were present at the opening.As I watched the parade of flag bearers in marching order, I was amazed. There were all sorts of flags from various countries. Some countries came with huge teams, while others came with smaller teams. The stadium was filled with loud music. Many of the athletes were happy and dancing around in their seats and there was an infectious pride in the stadium, displayed from the Paralympians and spectators alike. The host team, Great Britain entered the stadium last, to thunderous applause and cheers.When the Bermudian team appeared, I cheered as loudly as I could in support of Jessica Lewis. The Bermudian team were dressed in blue blazers with red Bermuda shorts. Jessica had a big smile on her face, as she wheeled herself across the stadium. She was moving alongside another woman, who held an umbrella with Bermuda written on it, while wearing the colours of the Bermuda flag. Included in her team were Ken Thom, her coach; Jennifer Southern, the Secretary General of the Bermuda Paralympic Association (BPARAS); Ann Lindroth, BPARAS President; Dr Annabel Carter and Lori Lewis, Chef de Mission.The ceremony was filled with celebration, performances and acts from various countries. In one performance, there was a giant blue umbrella in the middle of the stadium and in this showcase there were smoke bubbles that looked like giant soap suds reflecting against the navy blue sky.Once the music, dancing and cheering died down, Sir Philip Craven, the International Paralympic Committee President, gave a moving speech and invited the Queen to officially open the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The opening was followed by fireworks and then the raising of the Paralympic Flag. The flag was carried into the stadium by eight members of the Great Britain Under 22s Wheelchair Basketball Team and then it was raised by personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Army and Royal Air Force.After all of this, the Paralympic anthem, “Paralympia” was played, along with a video clip showing different Paralympians participating in different sports. This scene was beautiful.Close to the end of the ceremony was a disability anthem led by John Kelly entitled Spasticus Autisticus. It was a very upbeat song with a rock feel to it.After the song, Joe Townsend flew into the stadium and handed the Paralympic Flame to David Clark, who then brought the Flame into the Olympic Stadium. Many curious onlookers watched as the Paralympic Flame was lit. It was spectacular. Margaret Maughn, an 84- year-old who won Britain's first Paralympic gold in Rome in 1960, was the last person to light the torch.Lastly, Beverly Knight, Lizzie Emeh and Caroline Parker sang I Am What I Am and the crowd sang and cheered. This was followed by fireworks, which officially ended the night's spectacle.I was overjoyed to be there and felt the whole night was phenomenal. I really looked forward to seeing Jessica Lewis compete in all of her events. I knew she would do very well and make herself, her family and the whole of Bermuda very proud. I wish her all the best for the games. GO JESSICA!London sightseeingThe day after Jessica's first race, the Bermudian Team went out to celebrate her achievement. In the morning we went on the London Eye and took photographs of the sights. London was beautiful. The attractions we saw included Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge, with the Agitos sign suspended from it.When our ride on the London Eye finished, we went out for lunch. During lunch, Jessica thanked everyone in the team for coming to London to support her. She followed this with a toast, to which the whole team applauded.After lunch we went on a cruise boat. While on the cruise, I had a short conversation with Jessica to find out a few more things about her and her reasons for being in London.Her mother told me that Jessica's main purpose for coming to the Paralympic Games was not to win a medal, but to have a feel for the competition and to see what it is like. She also said that she has only been training seriously for a year.While talking to Jessica, I also found out that Anjali Forber-Pratt, one of the women that she is competing against, is her inspiration. I asked her, why and she replied: “She's my inspiration because she was competing in this year's Paralympic Games like me and she's given me some tips.”As Jessica Lewis is competing in Wheelchair Track, I also wanted to know a little bit about her sports chair. I understood there was a special lever on Jessica's sports chair, so I asked her what it did, to which she replied: 'The lever on my chair is called a compensator that I use to make wide turns and it is adjustable to the lane that I'm in. So if I'm in Lane 2, the turns will be much smaller but if I'm in Lane 8, the turns will be much wider'.I asked Jessica about her coach and how has he supported her in reaching her goal of getting to the Paralympic Games, and she answered: “He's always encouraged me even when I was down.”At 4pm, we went for afternoon tea. We were specifically searching for a restaurant that served scones and clotted cream. After a long search in the hot sun, we found what we wanted. Everyone quickly went in and sat down. Then the waitress came and we all ordered scones, clotted cream and jam with tea and hot chocolate. Once we were served, we ate, chatted among ourselves and took photographs.TV coverageIf I had to rate the amount of TV Coverage given to the London 2012 Paralympic Games overall, I would give it five out of 10. I have read various newspapers and websites, and I have noticed the complaints from viewers expressing their disappointment that they were not able to watch the Paralympic Games on some channels on Cable Vision.Being part of the Bermuda media team, I was right at the centre of the excitement. As London was the host city for the Games, Channel 4 and many other British channels, really did a great job in televising the Paralympic events and athletes. It was well supported, well attended and an overall success.As someone with a physical challenge, I find it disheartening as many Paralympians, like Jessica Lewis, have worked extremely hard to get to this platform and it seems as if only a few people care. They've firstly had to overcome their disability, before overcoming the challenge of mastering a sport. Comparing Paralympians with Olympians, I think the Paralympians had just a bit more courage and determination to compete at such a high level in sport. They refused to let people take pity on them, and refused to let their disabilities stop them from competing at such an advanced level.I've had the wonderful privilege of witnessing the Games for myself and they were phenomenal. Just to see the Paralympians give it all they had was amazing. I think it's a shame that some either didn't know, or didn't care, about what was happening in this aspect of sport.For those who wanted to watch the Paralympics and were unable to — I can confirm that you missed out. I saw wheelchair users doing track and field, I watched sitting volleyball, I saw partially sighted people doing judo, I saw amputees swimming and I watched blind people long jumping. All of the athletes who took part did an outstanding job.The Olympics and the Paralympics should have received equal TV coverage, regardless of whether the public felt it was important. Paralympians are doing extraordinary things to overcome their physical challenges. They have put hours of blood, sweat and tears into preparing for events, just like their non-disabled counterparts, and their achievements should be recognised equally.Wheelchair accessTravelling in London during the Paralympic Games was quite an adventure. My sole purpose at the Games was to report the achievements of Bermudian Paralympian, Jessica Lewis, who competed in the Wheelchair Track Events. Aside from Jessica's progress, I also observed issues, such as transport accessibility, during this busy period.Overall, it was a pleasant and positive experience. I had no need to complain about inaccessibility, or poor services. As a wheelchair user, mobility is an ongoing problem for people who have little or no use of their lower extremities. Another reason I've chosen to report on this subject is to draw comparisons between accessibility in Bermuda's public transport system and accessibility in London's public transport system.I think London's Public Transport System is better organised than Bermuda's because the staff seem to be more experienced and knowledgeable, especially when something goes wrong. For example, one afternoon I caught the bus to the Olympic Park, but the ramp on the bus had malfunctioned. The staff immediately reported the fault and called for a new ramp, which arrived really quickly. This proved to me that their service is fast and efficient.In the UK, it appears to be mandatory for all public transport to be fully equipped to serve the physically challenged community. This has not been my experience in Bermuda. There are no laws in place in Bermuda to hold the public transport system accountable for the service given to people who have mobility problems.Bermuda's former Premier tried to improve the wheelchair accessibility of public buses, by bringing in new buses which had ramps. However, the size of the gap between the buses and the pavements was not measured correctly, so unfortunately his plan did not work.Whilst in London for the past two weeks, I enjoyed travelling on the buses and the shuttle. The public places I visited were wheelchair friendly and equipped with ramps and lifts to make it easier for me and other physically challenged people.On my return journey, I experienced a problem getting to the coach station. While travelling through London by bus I noticed that there were messages on the windows saying 'This area is designated for wheelchair users and pushchairs' or 'Please give preference to wheelchair users.'However, there was confusion over what happened if pushchairs were already filling this space and a wheelchair user wanted to board. I watched six buses pass as the wheelchair spaces were occupied with pushchairs, which prevented me from boarding.As time passed, I changed my plans and turned to the train service for help. Two gentlemen kindly lifted me down the stairs in my wheelchair and onto the train, which took me to the coach station. The coach arrived and the driver operated the lift, which brought me onto the coach and then I transferred from my wheelchair to a regular seat and went on my way back home.Closing ceremonyOn Sunday, September 9, the London 2012 Paralympic Games ended as 80,000 spectators came to congratulate the Paralympians for their hard work and dedication to disability sport. The atmosphere was electric as music was pumping in the background to enhance the atmosphere. The Olympic Stadium was professionally set and I was mesmerised.While we waited for the show to begin, a slide show played, depicting the origin of the Paralympic Games. This 2012 Paralympic Games was about changing perceptions of disability, and about disabled people maximising their abilities.Then they showed a video clip of past Paralympians participating in various sports and being awarded for their achievements. When the video clip finished, we saw a scene entitled Windstorm. In this scene, someone dressed in pyjamas entered the stadium riding a bike, with a giant horn on wheels following him. This scene portrayed Sir Ludwig Guttmann's dream of the Paralympic Games. The Agitos, the symbol of the Paralympics, appeared at the end of the scene. The ethos of the sign is inspiration, determination, courage and equality. The three crescents made of inflatables were crushed to the ground by 'the dreamers', who were all sleeping.As this scene progressed, horns were blown to signal that the wind was coming and the dreamers woke from their sleep to protect the Agitos sign. Suddenly, huge fans on motorbikes, ridden by the Wind Gremlins, entered the stadium, bringing noise and wind with them. The dreamers battled against the wind to prevent the Agitos from being blown away. As the storm escalated, the Agitos were lost and flew into the night sky, along with one dreamer who was blown away with them. As the wind, horns and chanting increased, the wind showed no sign of calming and a storm was on its way. Gradually, a huge smoke cloud appeared at one end of the stadium, while 68 performers entered, carrying flares.Following that scene, there was a countdown to the official Closing ceremony. The ceremony began with a scene filled with fire lit torches and fire jugglers, and drummers with fire lit torches on their backs entered the stadium.At the end of this scene, Sir Phillip Craven, President of the IPC, and the Earl of Wessex entered the stadium in a very grand, modified, classic style car, for the raising of the flag. Thirteen members from the Ministry of Defence carried and raised the Union Flag on the protocol stage, to accompany the IPC flag. While the flag was being raised, Lissa Hermans sang the national anthem, God Save the Queen.