Barry Phelan doesn't remember being hit by a car when he was eight, but he does remember being told by doctors he'd never walk again.

Obviously, they didn't account for the depth of Phelan's determination. For not only is he walking, he's not far from representing Canada in the Paralympics as a sprinter.

The 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Wingham Madill broke his own record in the open boys' ambulatory 100 metres with a hand-timed 12.6 seconds yesterday at the Western Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association track and field championships at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

Not only that, he competed in the senior boys' 400 metres and ran the leadoff leg on the Madill senior 4x100 relay team that finished sixth, one place out of next week's Ontario West Regional at LaSalle.

Today, he runs the 200 and the 4x400 relay.

All of that against athletes with no disabilities, although you'd be hard-pressed to see his. He ran yesterday in conditions that were far from ideal, but that pales in comparison with what he has had to deal with since the accident, which occurred while he was riding his bicycle.

He was in hospital for six months with severe head injuries that left him with cerebral palsy. He is classified T38, which he says was represented the least degree of disability.

There have been plenty of challenges.

"The biggest was going back to school and realizing my friends all realized I was different," he said, adding that track was a great way to reintegrate into the school community. "I really got into it big in Grade 8. I had always been a runner, I just never realized my potential. I was just happy to be doing a sport and fitting in.

"My doctor said I wouldn't be able to walk. It was nice to be able to prove him wrong."

Phelan also competes with the Saugeen track club as well as a CP track group.

"Once I joined CP track, I realized everyone in that organization had the same drive, the same ambition. If you don't have the drive and determination to do what you like and you aren't willing to train, then you won't succeed."

Phelan led a 1-2-3-4 Madill sweep in the ambulatory 100. He was followed by Craig Folkard, Deric Kruse and Kyle Dore, who is blind.

Madill head coach Maureen Lisle said they all followed in the footsteps of Andy Shaw, a former Madill athlete with a disability. But she marvels at Phelan's heart, she says.

"One of his strengths is he's competing against athletes without disabilities. They push him. He hasn't limited himself. He's not afraid to go in event he knows he won't do that well in because he knows it'll help him.

"There's been a tremendous difference in his self-confidence and self-esteem the last few years. When he was in Grade 9, the other kids would help him to the start line and show him what to do. Now he's gotten to the point where he's a leader on the team, a good role model."

Phelan missed qualifying for the world disabled championships in the 100 metres last year by three-hundredths of a second. He's confident he can make that standard to head to the worlds this August in Birmingham, England, and has his sights set on the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.

Among other goals, he is planning a career in personal training and massage therapy.

"One goal I've made for myself is, when I come back from college or whatever, that people see the kind of person I've become and how I handled my problems."

He's on track for that one already.