“It's a pretty big medal, it has braille on it and it's pretty heavy.” The feeling of that medal is something that Moose Jaw's Marie Wright will remember forever.

Ten years after giving the sport of curling a try, Wright reached the pinnacle last week as she won a bronze medal with Canada's wheelchair curling team at the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Canada beat Korea, 5-3, in the bronze medal game last Friday to walk away from the Games with one final special memory.

Wright returned home to the Friendly City this week and she said that from start-to-finish, the experience at the Paralympics is something that she's never going to forget.

“It was probably the most incredible experience of my life,” said Wright. “The excitement that you hear about going into the Olympics and Paralympics is nothing compared to what you experience when you actually get there.”

Wright has went through a lot in her life, from becoming a paraplegic after an accident 30 years ago to raising four daughters on her own. She said she added a lifetime of memories over the past two weeks that she will never forget.

“It means so much just to be given the opportunity,” she said. “To have the coaches, fans and everyone believe in me and give me an opportunity to go, it's meant the world to me.

“It's so special. This is something that I will never forget and to have a medal from one of the biggest competitions in the world is just amazing.”

Two of Wright’s daughters, Kyla and Tara, along with her brother, his wife and one of her friends, were able to be in South Korea to watch Wright find success on the biggest stage possible. Wright said the support that she received throughout the Paralympics added a lot to the whole experience for her.

“The fact that you're competing for your country and you know that you have your whole country behind you is what makes it so special,” she said. “There were people back at home that were setting their alarms at two o'clock in the morning to get up and watch our games live online, and the pride that you get with that maple leaf on your back was just incredible.

“It was amazing to look up in the stands and see my family and friends cheering.”

Moose Jaw's Marie Wright, second from left, and her Team Canada teammates celebrate after their bronze medal win at the 2018 Paralympic Games. (Photo: Wendy Morgan / Curling Canada)

Canada put together an unbelievable run during the tournament. After splitting their first four games, they won seven straight to finish the round robin.

“In the two losses, they weren't the greatest games, but we rallied back,” said Wright. “We'd come from down 5-0 and fight back, so we knew that we had it and it was possible, so our coaching staff and psychologist were telling us that we had it and we just believed in ourselves.”

The Canadians would fall to eventual the gold medallist, China, in the semifinal, but they bounced back with a hard fought win over the host Koreans in the bronze medal game.

“When we went into (the bronze medal game), we knew we were going to have the crowd to fight, they were loud,” said Wright. “We knew that we had to try to quiet them down a bit and we stole two right off the first end.”

After the steal of two in the first, Canada would move in front 4-1 after two more in the fourth and that was enough to secure the win.

In the gold medal game, China beat Norway, 6-5.