OUH IT Support Analyst becomes national sporting hero
14/08/2013
This article is more than ten years old.
In July 2013 Simon Henry, an IT Support Analyst at the John Radcliffe Hospital, won his country's first ever Gold medal when he took home the top prize in the 10m air rifle shooting event at the XV International Natwest Island Games in Bermuda.
As well as winning two Silver medals at the event, Simon became a national sporting hero, ensuring his place in the history books, as he took home St Helena's first ever Gold medal in the country's national sport.
Born in St Helena, Simon moved to the UK in 1999 and worked in London, before moving to Oxford and working for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust as an IT Support Analyst. He first took up shooting in 1993 when he was 21 years old and continues to train at a club in Beckley, Oxford.
The 10m air rifle event lasted for just under two hours and Simon knew he had started strongly. He said:
"It was a mission. It's sixty shots on the air rifle and after the first fifty shots I knew I was in Gold medal contention but with the last ten shots I knew I dropped a few points, so I was a little unsure as to whether I had done enough to get the Gold.
"Words can't describe how I felt when the final scores were published later that day and I realised what I had done. I was overjoyed, sitting at the hotel with the rest of the national team and we went crazy – we were just so happy and in sheer disbelief – it took a couple of days to really sink in."
After the realisation that he had won his country's first Gold medal, Simon was informed that in doing so, he had gained automatic qualification into the XX Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow next year, and a chance to participate in one of the world's greatest sporting events with some of the most successful athletes in their fields.
The island of St Helena has a population of approximately 5000 people and is situated in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean between South America and Africa. The Governor of St Helena has personally congratulated Simon on his achievements and has praised him for the effect he had had on the people of St Helena – just like the spirit of the Olympics, Simon's success brought the whole country together in celebration.
Simon has competed in seven previous International Games, the first of which was in Gotland in 1999 where he won St Helena's last medal, a Bronze, in the 3P shooting event.
His family, who live on St Helena, have always been proud of his sporting achievements and his mother was there at the Gotland Games to see her son achieve the first medal of his sporting career.
Tragically at the end of June Simon's mother, Pam, passed away and he faced the tough decision over whether to go on to compete in the Games or whether to go home to St Helena to attend the funeral, a journey that would have taken a week to make, consisting of a flight to Africa and five days sailing, meaning he would have needed to pull out of the competition.
Simon spoke to his family and his father, who told him that his mother would have wanted him to go to the Games to compete rather than go home and so he should go and try his best.
Simon, who dedicated his historic Gold medal win to his mother, said:
"It was tough, really tough, but I felt completely as if she were there with me for every decision I made and I just knew that I was going to do well. I felt relaxed and focussed and have dedicated my Gold medal to her."