THE grandson of a Derby County legend is aiming to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Darren Greenfield had his left leg amputated above the knee after a motorcycle accident 20 years ago and spent three months in a wheelchair.

He learned to walk again using a false limb but has now returned to a wheelchair for the first time in 19 years – to play for a disabled basketball team.

The grandson of Rams star Jackie Stamps, Darren decided to take up basketball after visiting a disabled sports awareness event in Birmingham last month.

He had intended to try-out for the disabled weightlifting team but was told he would be perfect for wheelchair basketball instead because he had such good upper body strength

His tryout session was such a success that, as well as being signed up as a player for the Wolverhampton Rhinos wheelchair basketball team, he has been invited to try for a place in the British squad this week.

The father-of-three said: "A lot of amputees would see it as a step back to get back into a wheelchair after learning to walk again but I love all sport, so I approached it with an open mind.

"I'm practising almost every day at Swadlincote Leisure Centre and making the 100-mile round-trip to Wolverhampton twice a week for training."

Darren attended the awareness event after being told about it during a visit to the Amputee Rehabilitation Centre at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

Specialists from various sports events were there talent-spotting for the 2012 Paralympic games.

Darren said: "I was surprised when they asked me to get into a wheelchair and try basketball but you need a lot of upper body strength to play and they thought I had the right body type for it.

"Disabled athletes are graded in points according to the nature and severity of their disability and it's not unusual for amputees to play wheelchair sports."

The points represented by the disabilities of the five team members playing cannot exceed 15, to make sure that one team does not have an unfair advantage.

Darren will attend a trial for the British wheelchair basketball team in Nottingham on Wednesday. He said: "If you'd told me earlier this year, while I was watching the Beijing Olympics, that I could be representing my country in wheelchair basketball, I wouldn't have believed it but now my goal is to play at London 2012."

He added that his wife, Michelle, 29, and children Liarna, 13, Kieran, 10, and Bethany, seven, had all been supportive.

Leslie Depper, prosthetic manager at the DRI, gave Mr Greenfield the information about the Birmingham try-outs.

She said: "Darren has been a patient with us for about three years, so it's great to see him doing so well. We are thrilled at his wheelchair basketball success and the way he is raising the profile of amputees."

Darren is competing in a borrowed wheelchair and hopes to raise £4,000 for a competition wheelchair of his own. Companies wishing to sponsor him should e-mail jbeecroft@ derbytelegraph.co.uk.