Daniel Reed

Daniel Reed is a British guide skier and Emma Heart's head coach. He met her through a rehabilitation programme when she was seventeen, a year after she lost her sight. Their first sessions did not go well: "She was quick enough to frighten everybody and angry enough not to care."

They guided their way through junior competition onto the international circuit: a World Cup giant slalom medal in 2032, World Championship downhill bronze in 2037, and Paralympic downhill silver at Sion in 2038, 0.31 seconds off gold. He chose the wider line that may have cost them the title, because he felt a crosswind and gave them more space. "We made the decision together in the moment."

For Emma's Super-G he stood at the start gate and did not ski the course. Asked whether that felt like being replaced, he said, eventually, "Yes. A bit. That isn't necessarily a reason not to do it." For years the last sound before every run had been his voice. That day he said only, "Your mountain."

He rejects the idea that the field makes guides obsolete. "A guide does much more than transmit left and right. There is trust, timing, temperament." When a PostAccessibility account declared guide skiing over, he replied: "I am a person, you tedious little prick."

Behind the scenes

Daniel Reed appears throughout Heart Attacks, by Charlotte Joanne at Blind Ant.