The accident in which Mr Coates lost his hands happened during a trip to Canada, on his very first week at a factory job.
He said: “The machine went wrong that I was using and it chopped both my hands off.
“I remember going to hospital and thinking, ‘what will I do? If I don’t have any hands, I can’t do anything’.
“As the weeks went by, I tried to get my head around it.”
After moving back to Minchinhampton, Mr Coates was given a job as a welder and found ways to adapt his life to his disability.
A friend suggested he play skittles and the pair built an adaptor that Mr Coates could attach to his hooks. Then, he realised he could use the same invention for bowls.
“Even with my disability, I knew I could compete like everyone else. And I kept practicing,” he said.