Image: Huon local Michael Bennett is striving from personal tragedies to make it to the world stage of Target Rifle Shooting at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and 2026 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, with recent gold medal wins at the Melbourne International Shooting Club Grand Prix showing a bright future for him. (PS)

“My desire to excel again drives me,” said Michael Bennett, a new Huon hopeful for the 2024 Paris Paralympics and 2026 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

While naturally an ambitious person, Mr Bennett hasn’t always had the easiest path in life.

A tragic accident from when Mr Bennett was in his 20s has permanently altered his life, but not his outlook on it.

While returning home from training in Launceston as part of the then Tasmanian Rugby Union Under 21 team, Mr Bennett,

who then played as Winger, was a victim of one of Tasmania’s worst road accidents.

A young driver on the other side of the road veered into oncoming traffic and into Mr Bennett’s car, killing three of Mr Bennett’s teammates and the driver and injuring one other person.

Tragedy not only hit Mr Bennett in grieving the loss of those closest to him, but the injuries Mr Bennett suffered from the crash meant that he needed to learn to talk, walk and think again to simply recover.

“I had to muster depths within myself to learn to walk, talk and think again and now I put all that energy towards shooting,” expressed Mr Bennett.