Michael Kerr

Dr Michael Kerr
Award of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science

Double Paralympian in wheelchair rugby, Michael Kerr is the founder of the Michael Kerr Active Project, a charity supporting people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities.

In 2000, when Michael was 17, he broke his neck diving into a swimming pool. He was paralysed from the chest down. After spending 10 months in rehabilitation, Michael began playing wheelchair rugby, soon realising he wanted to dedicate his life to the sport. In 2006, he was selected for the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Team and made his competition debut the same year.

Michael is the only Scot to have been selected for the team. He represented Great Britain for more than a decade, competing at two Paralympic Games, and in three European Games, winning gold, silver and bronze. In 2014, he captained the team to fourth place at the World Championships.

In 2012, Michael was honoured to carry the Olympic torch in the build-up to the Games in London.

Since retiring from international rugby in 2016, Michael has been inducted into the North Lanarkshire Sporting Hall of Fame and founded the Michael Kerr Active Project, which offers practical, social, welfare and legal support to help people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities rebuild their lives.