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Jacob Thomas has no memory of boccia rival Portugal's Armando Costa winning gold at the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996.

You can easily forgive him though - he was only one at the time. 

Welsh teenager Thomas will line up against the three-time Paralympic medallist at the Portugal Masters in Lisbon, starting on 5 June, which will serve as the perfect gauge to test the waters ahead of the London Paralympics.

World-class boccia skills are just one facet of a truly remarkable individual who so nearly did not survive to compete in his debut Paralympics.

Last year, Jacob was given 12 hours to live by doctors when he was put into an induced coma after suffering acute liver failure.

Yet some 18 months on from that horrific ordeal, Jacob is being touted as a possible Paralympic medal contender. 

Jacob, who has muscular dystrophy, plays in boccia's BC3 (see sidebar) classification, which means he uses a specially designed helmet to propel the ball via a ramp. 

You don't want to be told the obvious, especially with a condition like his - Mike Thomas

His father Mike is his on-court assistant, his mentor, driver and number one fan.

"Jacob went into a wheelchair at eight and not long after we were given some plastic boccia balls from the local council," he told C4Paralympics.

"We knew nothing about boccia but we started playing to see who could get the ball closest in the yard. 

"He was about 13 when he started training with the Welsh squad as a BC4. I had to drive 80 miles to get any from of competition for him from our home in Pembrokeshire. He was a thrower back then."

Because muscular dystrophy is a degenerative disease, Jacob's throwing was soon affected, so much so he was told by GB representatives that his best route to success was to use the ramp.

"It was a difficult weekend because you don't want to be told the obvious, especially with a condition like his," remembered Mike.

"A few tears later we said 'okay, let's get a ramp'." 

About six months on, a GB talent search programme, headed up by Glynn Tromans (GB Boccia talent development manager), invited Jacob to take part in the Welsh nationals as a BC3. He came second with a home-made ramp.

"The transition from BC4 to BC3 was a lot easier than we thought. it was just a case of getting used to the ramp," added Mike.

Just as Jacob was making huge strides in the GB international set-up, his health rapidly deteriorated overnight in January 2011.

They put him into induced coma where we were told he had 12 hours to live - Mike Thomas

The Thomases were preparing to travel to the Netherlands for an international competition when Jacob lay bed-bound with a high temperature and chronic diarrhoea.

"The doctor prescribed antibiotics and paracetamol because he was running a temperature," said Mike.

"But because he had such a severe dose of diarrhoea and sickness, the paracetamol went straight to his liver. At this time we didn't know, nor did our local hospital in Wales. 

"A few days later and Jacob was in a state of hypothermia. His temperature was sky-high and would then go shooting right down to the point where he was freezing cold. 

"He spent a day in our local general hospital where they proscribed him paracetamol because they didn't know what was wrong with him."

The additional doses of paracetamol almost proved fatal as he was soon diagnosed with liver failure and airlifted to a specialist unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

"They put him into induced coma where we were told he had 12 hours to live.  Their words to us were 'don't hold out too much hope - he is severely sick'," said Mike.

"He had had a severe dose of paracetamol and the finger was pointing at us because there lay a young lad of 17 who had taken an overdose of paracetamol which he can't take himself.

"After the longest 12 hours of our lives, the doctors said he's over that but the concerns were still there. 

"Ten days later he came out of a coma but then he caught pneumonia. He had problems with his breathing so he had a trachea fitted. 

My goal is to get a gold medal in London. Nothing less - Jacob Thomas

"We nearly lost him twice during those eight weeks in hospital. But throughout his recovery he was itching to play boccia."

Even at his weakest, Jacob could not give up his boccia balls. After he was transferred to Swansea's Morriston Hospital, he mustered sufficient strength to play in his ward corridors.

"He played six balls and he was physically worn out," said Mike. "He had lost so much weight he couldn't sit up for more than 30 mins at a time and would have to go back to bed. 

"But he was desperate to see whether he could wear a helmet again and see whether he could start playing boccia again."  

After eight weeks in hospital, Jacob was given the all-clear to return home and the desire to regain his place on the GB international squad spurred him on during his rehabilitation programme, slowly building up his strength to withstand the rigours of the helmet and ramp.

Eight months after his illness, Jacob made his GB debut at the World Cup in Belfast last year, finishing an impressive fifth in the singles and sixth in the pairs with Jess Hunter.

This year has seen Jacob maintain his upward curve, winning bronze in the individual BC3 London test event competition, following that up with gold in the pairs alongside partner Hunter. 

He also ran BC3 world number one Gregoris Polychronidis close in an exhibition match in Greece, pushing the 2008 Paralympic BC3 individual silver medallist all the way. 

Jacob has only one aim for this year. "My goal is to get a gold medal in London. Nothing less," he said.

After what he has been through, it's almost impossible to doubt his assertion.

- Watch our 60-second guide to boccia

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