At the age of 16, he suffered a climbing accident on Britain's well-known grit stone cliffs which left him paralyzed.
"The second day in the hospital, I saw people playing wheelchair basketball outdoor," he recalled.
"And I thought maybe I can do that, too."
The sporty young man also picked up several Paralympic sports, including swimming, snooker, tennis and wheelchair basketball.
"I am not a courageous person," he said. "I just get on with my life."
And that life has come to encompass the Paralympic movement for Sir Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
"The most enjoyable part of my work is that I am making the IPC a real sports-centered organization," the 57-year-old told China Daily.
A passionate communicator, the Briton has helped the committee enhance the relationship with other international and national sports organizations as well as introduce more committee members with a sports background.
"Our vision is to enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world".
The IPC is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. It organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and coordinates the World Championships and other competitions.
Under his leadership, in 2005, the Executive Committee was replaced by a Governing Board whose members were directly elected by the IPC General Assembly. There are four advisory Councils in addition to several Standing Committees. They are governed under a new IPC Constitution and a new electoral system. This will lead the 12 IPC sports toward more self-sustainability and eventually, independence from the IPC. In addition to the NPCs and IOSDs, the sports and regional bodies will also become full members of the IPC.
Before starting his administrative career as chairman of the Classification Committee, Basketball Section ISMWSF (International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation) in 1984, Craven had carved out a brilliant sports career in Paralympics.
He used to train four hours daily at university, three hours for basketball and one for swimming.
"At that time, Michael Jordan was my idol," he said.
By 1969, he had made his first appearance at an international competition for Britain's national team.
With 190 games and five Paralympics under his belt, Craven has a winner's collection that includes golds in the European championships in 1971 and 1974, as well as gold in the Commonwealth Games in 1970.
His greatest achievement as an athlete was winning the European Champions' Club Cup while playing with the Sheffield Steelers, a feat still unmatched by any other British team in the 25-year history of the competition.
