Ask any young disabled person in Bermuda what they would like to achieve in life and the answer might come back ?to be accepted as an individual, not a disabled?.

That?s what life has been like for triple gold medal winner in the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, Lee Pearman who spoke at the Rotary Club dinner in Southampton last night.

Voted the BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year 2004, Mr. Pearman is no stranger to being rewarded for his accomplishments.

At the age of six he was awarded the ?Children of Courage? award by then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He had already endured 15 operations after being born with a rare condition called Arthrogryphosis.

It?s a condition that, while in the womb, makes the muscles in the arms and legs grow as scar tissue, leaving babies severely disabled. But that?s never stopped Mr. Pearman. At the age of nine he started riding horses and the rest, as they say, is history.

Besides the triple gold medals he won in Sydney, he defended his title successfully as the world Paralympic dressage champion in Athens where he collected another three gold medals ? bringing his medal haul to 14.

?To do the best test I have ever done meant a lot to me, it was the test of a life time, but for it to be there in Athens in the Olympic arena was amazing!? he said.

Another major achievement came in the autumn of 2003 when he won the restricted elementary at the British Dressage National Championships on his horse, Blue Circle Boy.

This was an unprecedented success as no Paralympic rider has ever been victorious against able-bodied riders.

When asked after the event what that meant to him, he answered ?as much as all my gold medals?.

Mr. Pearman was recently awarded the Member of the British Empire by the Queen.

Was he any good the first time he got on a horse?

He?ll be the first to tell you he ?stank?, but perseverance pays off and that?s his message to other youngsters with disabilities, ?never give up.?