Darren Young fired up to play through the pain for a game that helped save him
The 53-year-old must take off his morphine patch three days before each competition to comply with anti-doping regulations.

Former RAF firefighter Darren Young is determined to play through the pain and help Great Britainās sitting volleyball squad book a place at next yearās Paris Paralympics for the first time in more than a decade.
The 53-year-old, who was medically discharged after suffering serious back and neck injuries in an accident, must take off his morphine patch three days before each competition to comply with anti-doping regulations.
It means that each time Young takes to the court, including for this weekendās ParaVolley Silver Nation League tournament in Nottingham ā the first international sitting volleyball event staged in the UK since London ā he does so in agonising pain.
But Young is determined to give everything back to a sport he candidly admits helped save him from suicide during the difficult years following his accident.
āFor each competition I have to go five or six days without the medication that helps me function as a normal person, day to day,ā said Young, from Gillingham, Kent.
āI did a competition last year and it was the first time Iād been off morphine for four years. It was like going cold turkey. It was horrendous at times. But Iām willing to accept it, because at the moment when Iām out playing the enjoyment and adrenaline overtakes the pain.ā
Young discovered sitting volleyball through the Invictus Games, having been sparked into researching potential Paralympic sports after working as a security guard for the VIP section of Londonās O2 Arena during the 2012 Games.
Having also been diagnosed with clinical depression, he knew he needed to find an outlet for the competitive spirit that had led him a promising junior football career, in which he was once briefly on the books of Middlesbroughās academy, before being released due to an unrelated injury.
He said: āI did a competition last year and it was the first time Iād been off morphine for four years. It was like going cold turkey. It was horrendous at times. But Iām willing to accept it, because at the moment when Iām out playing the enjoyment and adrenaline overtakes the pain.
I did a competition last year and it was the first time I'd been off morphine for four years. It was like going cold turkey. It was horrendous at times. But I'm willing to accept it, because at the moment when I'm out playing the enjoyment and adrenaline overtakes the pain
āIād been having lots of suicidal thoughts, enduring lots of sleepless nights on the morphine patches, and I knew I needed something else,ā added Young.
āIād always been really competitive and sitting back watching sport on TV just didnāt tick the boxes. I didnāt know anything about sitting volleyball at the time but itās one of those team sports that really changes you as an individual.
āI wouldnāt be here today if it wasnāt for my family and my sport. I remember when I took all my patches out to commit suicide, and their vision came into my head and thatās what stopped me.
āI struggle every single day. I can be on the crest of a wave thinking about the next competition, and the next minute I can sit down for a coffee and it bites you on the backside. Depression is the worst feeling in the world.
āGB has given me a huge focus. I shouldnāt be representing my country in para-sport at the age of 53. But Iām here and Iām determined to help get the team to the Paras. We donāt want to be a laughing stock. We want to open eyes about what our sitting volleyball team can accomplish.ā