Peter was born with a condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome. He was born without all four limbs. From a young age Peter was fitted with two artificial legs, a hook left arm and what they call an opposition plate on his right arm. That’s why he is affectionately known as “Hooks”.
One of four siblings he attended normal schools through to high school.
Through his life, Peter has worked mainly in engineering, but has also tried his luck forklift driving, being a garage manager, Mitre 10 staffer, mystery shopper, a signal man for Kiwi Rail, and these days a part time courier driver.
Peter has had a fantastic sporting life having played all sports at school, then pool, darts, table tennis, and indoor bowls. In the late 1970’s he took up outdoor lawn bowls and soon found he was pretty good at it. He joined the Taita Bowling Club and soon found was able to play with and against some of the best bowlers in NZ. Peter soon found himself winning club titles then a centre title with his father Ron, with whom he had lots of success.
In 1988, Peter was selected to the New Zealand Paralympic Team to compete in South Korea. His Paralympic debut were a fantastic success as he won the historical 2 Paralympic medals in Para lawn bowls for New Zealand.
He won the gold medal in the Men’s Singles LB3 and the bronze medal in the Men’s Pairs LB2 with Paralympian #59 John Davies.
Eight years later, Peter competed again at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games.
One real disappointment for Peter was having his team withdrawn from the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.
Peter is a founding member of NZ Disabled Lawn Bowls.
High lights of his life include obtaining his drivers license, winning a centre title with his father, winning major tournaments with his friends Don Wadsworth and Rowan Brassey, and being a Hutt Valley Sports Legend.
Peter received his ‘numbered’ Paralympic pin as part of The Celebration Project in Wellington in November 2020.
