AN international athlete from Cleckheaton has vowed to keep fundraising to achieve her Paralympic dream in Rio despite an eye operation dashing her world game hopes in Seoul this summer.

Visually impaired goalball player Brittany Stead had already raised £2,000, towards the £35,000 needed to get her and the rest of her Great Britain team mates to the IBSA World Games this June, but she will now have to miss the tournament because she needs surgery.

Although she is "gutted" she is still 100 per cent behind her team who will now face highly ranked national teams of China, Japan, Canada, Finland and Israel without her.

If it qualifies at those games, the team will go through to the 2016 Paralympics Games which Miss Stead desperately still wants to be a part of.

The 18-year-old, whose most recent eye surgery was eight months ago, plays for Kirklees at intermediate and elite level and is asking local individuals and businesses for sponsorship and donations to get the Team GB to Seoul and Rio.

Goalball is currently the only Paralympic team sport for women. It is played with raised markings on the floor and the object of the game, played by two teams of three blindfolded players, is to score a goal by bowling the ball, with bells inside, along the floor to cross a line.

The sport was originally developed to help with the rehabilitation of soldiers after the Second World War. Its popularity was bolstered by Team GB’s performance at the London 2012 games and in the past two years the number of active clubs has soared from 18 to 30 across the country.

Miss Stead said: "It’s not an exaggeration to say that goalball changed my life. It’s amazing to play a sport designed with my disability in mind. My confidence has grown massively and I never thought I’d be playing sport at an international level.

"We were the wild card at London 2012. No-one expected us to do as well as we did. By the end of the games, we were the second most successful GB women’s team sport across both the Paralympics and the Olympics.

"We want to take that same attitude to Seoul. It’s our last shot at Rio so we’ll be giving it our all. I'm gutted I won't be able to go to Seoul but I'm 100 per cent behind fundraising to get us all to Rio."

Last week, the Men’s GB team stormed the European Goalball Championship in Malmo and went on to win the whole tournament in a nail-biting final against favourites Russia, now the Women’s team are hoping to replicate their success.

Anyone interested in donating money to help the team should visit www.justgiving.com/GBRWomensGoalball.