The 46-year-old, a retired army sergeant, was injured in 2009 when he broke three vertebrae in his neck after a fall, which damaged his spinal cord.

Although feeling and movement slowly began to return, he suffered a further setback when involved in a car accident later that year.

It resulted in his shoulder, arm and neck on the right side of his body having less strength and feeling than his left.

Stacey began participating in Para-taekwondo during his rehab and has gone on to perform well at national and international events.

This has included a second place finish at the National Championships earlier this year, as well as ending as the runner-up at both the Pan American Para-Taekwondo Championships in Mexico and the Canada Para Open.

It has boosted his world ranking to fourth, but Stacey has indicated his focus will be on competing at the under-75 kilogram event at Lima 2019, before any thoughts turn to Tokyo 2020.

"My goal is always to field the highest-level team," he said in an interview on the Team USA website.

"You know, I’m a soldier, so I’m not going to lose the battle just for my self-grandiose fulfillment of saying I went to the Paralympics."

Para-taekwondo is due to make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, with Stacey claiming he will work with young people and veterans to get them into the sport.

The American has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and urged anyone suffering from a similar challenge to seek assistance.

He wears a "Mission 22" logo on his uniform in order to raise awareness of the number of suicides that are committed each day by military veterans.

"There are a lot of organisations out there," he said.

"But there’s still a stigma that you’re kind of weak if you need help, a stigma about mental health problems."