A former Cwmbran High School student has been named the Young Sports Personality of the Year in the national Deaf Sports Personality of the Year awards.
Team BRIT driver Caleb McDuff, the UK’s only male Deaf racing driver, was presented with the award at a ceremony in Glasgow last Saturday.
The 18-year-old, who was diagnosed Deaf at two, has overcome significant challenges to achieve his dream of becoming a racing driver. He now competes in the Britcar Trophy Championship with Team BRIT, the world’s only fully disabled racing team.
Since signing with the team earlier this year, he has been competing in a BMW 1 Series in the Britcar Trophy Championship. Following an outstanding season, in which the 1 Series secured the overall class win, Caleb advanced to drive the BMW M240i for the championship’s final race.
Diagnosed as Deaf at the age of two due to severe ear infections, Caleb has overcome significant challenges with the help of advanced cochlear implants, which now allow him to have moderate hearing. Team BRIT has developed a technical solution enabling him to use his implants while racing, by creating an interface between his implants and the pit crew, ensuring he can fully engage with his team.
Caleb said: “I really can’t believe I’ve won this award. This is the first time I’ve been nominated for something like this, and to be honest the nomination alone felt special enough, let alone being named as the winner.
“It’s been such a mad and unbelievable year, doing what I absolutely love. This amazing recognition and support has just spurred me on to do even better next year. I want to keep pushing myself and step up to GT4 racing. Hopefully this is just the start of my racing career, during which I can inspire other Deaf people to push themselves and believe that anything is possible.”