Iraq-born Ahmed Kelly was shattered when told his body wouldn't be able to handle the transition from junior to senior Australian rules football.
But from that devastation arose a new dream: to win a Paralympic medal for his adopted country.
Kelly, who was born with a double arm and leg deficiency, spent the first nine years of his life in a Baghdad orphanage.
But his life changed in 2000 when he was adopted by humanitarian Moira Kelly and brought to Australia to receive treatment on his limbs.
After undergoing surgery to remove the deformed sections of his lower legs, Kelly was fitted with prosthetics and had to learn to walk all over again.
"At the time I had no idea why I was falling over," Kelly says.
"But it was because my centre of gravity had changed dramatically."
Within a few weeks, Kelly got the hang of it. A month later, he was running.
And after attending an AFL game, he decided to take on a new challenge - playing footy.
"I asked a friend of mine to teach me how to play," Kelly recalls.
"He was playing for Assumption College.
"I was only in grade five. A year later I tried out for the grade six footy team.
"It was a big learning curve, but I loved every minute of it. And the opponents treated me equally, so I really loved that."
However, when Kelly was 16, he had to leave the sport he adored.
Kelly realised the crash and bash nature of footy could end up compromising his future, and he didn't want to be paying the price decades down the track.
So the search began for a new sport, and swimming ended up winning the race despite a scratchy start.
"When I first did swimming, I was shocking," Kelly says with a laugh.
But it didn't take long for him to flourish in the sport.
In fact, his progress was so swift that he was chosen to represent Australia at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Kelly finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke, and he's aiming to go at least one better in Rio in 2016.
Now 22, Kelly is in the midst of completing a journalism degree, and says he will be forever thankful to his adopted mum Moira and the Children's First Foundation for giving him and his brother Emmanuel a new life in Australia.
"It was life-changing," Kelly says.
"We were the only two mobile kids at the orphanage in Baghdad.
"All the others were paraplegic and weren't able to move a lot.
"So you can just imagine my brother and I getting up to a lot of mischief."
The pair now have two sisters - Trishna and Krishna.
The conjoined twins hit worldwide headlines in 2009 when they underwent a 32-hour operation to separate them.
The girls turned seven last December, and Kelly says they are a constant inspiration for him.
He is also thankful to the Australian Paralympic Committee, whose fundraising efforts allow athletes like Kelly to achieve their dream of competing at the Paralympics.
The APC launched their 'Pledge Your Belief' campaign this week in the hope of attracting more donations from the public to help athletes go to the 2014 winter Paralympics in Sochi and the 2016 summer Games in Rio..
"If it weren't for the APC, I don't think I would be swimming," Kelly says.
"The Government gives us some money, but the APC has to find the majority of it from the Australian public.
"It's not many people who can say ' wow, I've reached my dream to represent Australia'.
"I was on cloud nine when I got the email saying that I made the Australian Paralympic swim team for London."
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