Will Bayley – Bumba Foundation Ambassador

Will Bayley was born on the 17th January 1988 with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affects all four of his limbs. Will’s feet were splinted from birth and at three months old he underwent his first operation, which was to see him in plaster for several months. Many more reconstruction operations were to follow at Great Ormond Street Hospital and at the age of seven Will was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and spent many months receiving chemotherapy. Whilst recovering from cancer, Will discovered he was able to play a good game of table tennis, which his grandmother had provided for him.

Will continued to train during the week and take part in table tennis competitions. In 2008 Will was selected to play for the Great Britain Paralympics team at Beijing. Over the next 4 years Will trained full time with the Paralympics team at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, winning many competitions including the gold medal at the European Championships in Split, Croatia in 2011. In September 2012 Will represented Team GB at the London 2012 Paralympics winning a Silver Medal in the individual competition and Bronze medal in the team event (the first GB table tennis medals for many years). In 2016 Will completed in Rio Paralympics and won his first gold medal and put the defeat of 2012 behind him. Following his years of dedication and his gold medal in Rio, Will was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to table tennis.