It is a stunning viewpoint, but then again Mr Sims, who died last Monday, had a remarkable life after his lower limbs were severed in 1970.

He was a pistol shooter at the 1984 and 1988 Paralympics, an Olympic torch bearer in 2000, competitive lawn bowler, disability advocate and driving instructor.

“When I try something I really get into it,” Mr Sims told The Border Mail in 1989.

“I will play to win.”

Mr Sims grew up in inner Sydney and began working in the railways after his father-in-law suggested he needed a steady job.

He was a driver of steam locomotives, hauling freight regularly over the Blue Mountains to Lithgow.

While lying under rolling stock doing maintenance in 1970, Mr Sims had his legs crushed by another train.

He spent five months intensive care and six months in rehab.

Daughter Carolyn Wallace, who had her sixth birthday in her dad’s hospital, has recalled her father’s reaction to his plight in a eulogy.

“He was speaking to a fellow patient who had lost both his legs years ago,” Mrs Wallace wrote.

“Dad couldn’t believe how miserable this man was and from that moment on he decided he would walk out of the hospital and make the most of his changed life.

“And that he did.”

In 1989, Mr Sims and his wife Sybil moved to Baranduda to be near their daughters.

After losing his sight and being left wheelchair-bound, Mr Sims took up lawn bowls and played for Albury’s Commercial Club.

He also became Wodonga’s disabilities leisure access officer with his influence resulting in the city’s indoor pool not having a lip.

The Sims retired to Newcastle in the early 2000s, but following Mrs Sims’ death in 2009, Mr Sims returned to Wodonga.

“Dad never complained about being a double amputee and never blamed anyone for the accident, in fact he was the opposite and forgave the person responsible,” Mrs Wallace said. 

“He recently said to me that if he hadn’t lost his legs he may not have been such a good father instead he might have been off doing his own thing, instead he was the best father we could ask for.”

The funeral for Mr Sims, 77, will be at Kergunyah’s Uniting Church at 11am on Monday.