A WOMAN left disabled following a car crash is aiming for Paralympic glory after she taking up clay pigeon shooting.

Victoria Latcham, 38, suffered serious spinal injuries after a lorry crashed into her car on the A690 near  Sunderland in 2000.

The 38-year-old also suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and lost confidence due to the accident.

Then in April last year she tried skeet, or clay pigeon shooting, and was offered professional training just hours after pulling the trigger for the first time.

Ms Latcham, of Mainsforth Rise, Ferryhill Station, in County Durham, said: “I decided to try clay pigeon shooting but I was really nervous and shy.

“Then shortly after I got home I got a call asking if I wanted to be trained up. I jumped at the chance and it’s going really well.

“Shooting has helped me to gain confidence. It made me very proud to be told that I should be trained up.

“There are difficulties to shooting as I’m in a wheelchair, but it’s something that I enjoy and having a disability is not holding me back.

“It’s still a male dominated sport but I would love to get to the Paralympics and that’s my aim.”

Professional coach Mark Lewis, of Sherwood Shooting Academy, near Nottingham, teaches Ms Latcham on a monthly basis.

She spends several days at the academy, near to Nottingham, and has already won a gold medal in a club competition.

Olympic hopeful Ms Latcham is now working towards acquiring her own gun to boost her chances of a Great Britain call-up.