Paralympians light the flame at the birthplace of the games in England

Two British Paralympians lit the flame in Stoke Mandeville, a village northwest of London that's considered the birthplace of the Paralympic Games.

Transcript

00:00The Paralympic flame has been lit by British Paralympians Helen Rainsford and Gregor Ewan

00:06in Stoke Mandeville.

00:11The Northwest London village is widely considered to be the birthplace of the Paralympic Games,

00:17the first form of which was founded by Jewish neurosurgeon Ludwig Gutmann in 1948 for wheelchair

00:24athletes with war-related spinal injuries.

00:29For everyone involved in Paralympic movements, Stoke Mandeville represents sacred and cherished

00:33ground.

00:34It is here, a little over 76 years ago, that the visionary pioneer Sir Ludwig Gutmann created

00:40the Paralympic movement.

00:41I don't know about you guys, but I can feel his presence here today, no doubt about it.

00:47The flame will now travel to France under the English Channel, where it will be split

00:52into 12 flames that each will follow their own route through the different regions of

00:56before reuniting in Paris for the Paralympics opening ceremony.