Chris Hallam’s life is being featured in a documentary for BBC Wales. The paralympic icon passed away in 2013 at the age of 50.

A motorcycle accident at the age of 17 saw the talented able-bodied swimmer become a wheelchair user. In the 1980s he challenged preconceptions of disability sport and helped transform it into something that would become watched by billions across the world.

When is the Chris Hallam documentary on TV?

Shades: The Life and Times of Chris Hallam is on BBC Wales on Thursday 22 August at 10:35pm

The three-part series will also feature David “Bomber” Pearce, known locally as the Newport Rocky and Tom Pryce – the only Welshman to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

Mavericks: Sport’s Lost Heroes is a three part BBC Sport Wales documentary series that follows the rise of sporting heroes from the worlds of boxing, car-racing and para-athletics.

Each one a maverick that fell outside the mainstream of their sports but who none the less made a huge impact on those around them. The series sees these heroes’ journeys from humble beginnings to the peak of their sport and traces their tragic ends. 

During his career Chris won the 50m breast stroke at the World Disabled Games, won the London Marathon twice and competed in four Paralympic games- breaking world records in every distance from 100m to a marathon.

It was off the track where Chris’s influence was most felt. He fought relentlessly to get the sport recognised and to break down attitudinal barriers around the sport.

After retiring from the sport Chris would suffer from ill health and battled with lymphoma over a ten year period before passing away at the age of 50.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thomson said that without Chris there would be no wheelchair racing today as we know it. For many, Chris helped propel the sport out of the shadows and into mainstream media and inspire a new generation of para-athletes.