Paralympian Will Perry praises 'fantastic' support after dwarfism abuse

A Paralympic swimmer said he had had a "fantastic" reaction since speaking out about public abuse he receives because of his dwarfism.

Will Perry, who swam for ParalympicsGB in the S6 100m freestyle at Tokyo 2020, said he was "sick to death" of being laughed at because of his disability.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said the reaction to his comments had shown "how many people are standing by me".

"It is a really good reminder this is a minority of the public," he said.

Perry, from Northamptonshire, has a common form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.

He had called for people to challenge those who filmed him or laughed at him in the street.

On Friday he said: "The really fantastic thing is the reaction I got, knowing how people are standing by me."

The 21-year-old said, outside of the Paralympic Games, disabled people were "pretty irrelevant," so it had been "great to see so many people backing my cause, messaging me in support, saying they will call others out".

He said he had been contacted by parents of children with the same condition, concerned they would receive similar abuse.

"All I can say at the moment is there is nothing we can do," he said. "I'm trying my hardest to fight it, but we've got to stand together.

"I've been brought up to take it on the chin; that you can't change it, you've got to be strong.

"I want to be strong, but I shouldn't have to be.

"When the whole public gets behind this people will realise it is just not acceptable."

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