Amos Ahiagah runs regularly at the stadium in Accra in the early mornings before going to work at a barbershop.

The money he earns helps to support his family, including his brother, who has his own sporting dreams as he seeks to become a professional footballer.

Ahiagah, who lost his right arm below the shoulder after an accident when he was six years old, wants to win the first African Para Games medal for Ghana.

"In my country, when you go to training, someone will see you and the person will discourage you," Ahiagah said.

"Even in the training you’re doing in Ghana, they just discourage you, but for me, no one can discourage me. 

"I know what is in me so I will never stop.

"I ran with the able people during school time.

"As I went running, a coach saw me and said to me that he’d like to take me in and train me.

"In my country you don’t have so many disabled athletes so normally I train with the abled people.

"I always run with them.

"I do everything with them."

After the coach spotted him, Ahiagah started training with more focus and he now specialises in the 100, 200 and 400 metres distances.

"I sometimes learn from online," he said.

"I Google and learn what 'Paralympic' is.

"Many people don’t know about Paralympics in my country.

"When you say 'Paralympics', some people do not understand what Paralympics means because they don’t have any idea about it, so I try to teach my friends about the Paralympics.

"My dream is to win a gold medal for my country because I noticed that no one has won the gold medal for the country before, so I just want to be the one.

"If I did that, I would be proud."

Ahiagah's brother is 15 years old, while his sister is 27 years old, and since their parents are mostly absent from their lives the three siblings live together and rely on each other for support.

The youngest brother is playing football at school and dreams of playing internationally.

"I pray to God that God will help me so that I can also help him to achieve his goal," Ahiagah said.

"I always tell him that he shouldn't stop even though there is no money in the family, but he should not stop.

"God is there to support us so we should give thanks to God.

"While there’s life, there’s hope so I always tell him that there’s more coming."

The West Africa country has participated in every Paralympic Summer Games since 2004, sending three athletes to the latest edition at Tokyo 2020, but has yet to win a Paralympic medal.

"I believe in myself that I can do it," Ahiagah said.

"I have to be determined in my life.

"If I want to become like Usain Bolt, I have to work hard so that I can achieve my goal because Usain Bolt did not just rise up.

"He trained hard before he became Usain Bolt, so that means I have to train hard."