A ROGIET athlete who overcame an extremely rare condition as a child will be playing in the basketball Paralympics quarter-finals tonight.

Philip Pratt had Transverse Myelitis when he was four, a neurological condition in which the spinal cord is inflamed, and has used a wheelchair since.

He’s now playing for Team GB wheelchair basketball team and has the most important game of his life tonight.

Despite losing against the US on Monday night, the team qualified for the quarter-finals and will be playing against Australia tonight at 9.30pm (British time).

Mr Pratt’s mum, Sarah, said: “I’m ecstatic, it feels surreal that I’m watching my son on the Paralympics.

“I’m very proud, he’s doing so well.

“It’s great to hear the presenters say wonderful things about my son.

“Yesterday, one called him ‘architect’ because he makes place for everyone and he’s very quick – he’s great at passing the ball.”

Mr Pratt was brought up in Rogiet, but is currently living in Worcester, where he does his training.

He’ll be moving to Italy in October to play for Porto Torres, in Sardinia.

The twenty-two-year-old has been training every day, twice a day, two hours each time, for the last year.

“He has been in Rio for ten days, he trained there for a week,” said Mrs Pratt. “He’s having a fantastic time – he’s loving the atmosphere.

“He says it’s out of this world.

“He’s really enjoying Brasil, it’s the second time he's visited the country.

“His dad is with him and his sister will be going tomorrow to watch him play in the quarter-finals – that’s if she feels up for it after such a long flight.”

As a child, Mr Pratt played tennis for a time until he decided it wasn’t for him. He wanted to play a team sport so he started to play basketball when he was 12.

As a teenager, he played for CELTS wheelchair basketball, in Cardiff, and he then played for Team GB’s under-23 squad.