How the Mighty Quinn triumphed in his battle with Dyslexia!

The rugby pitch is no place for faint hearts, and 19-stone Welsh legend Scott Quinnell stood up to fearsome opponents in a glorious 15-year career, earning his nickname The Mighty Quinn.

But away from the game, he admits being reduced to tears and made to feel small as he battled the crippling condition dyslexia.

He was taunted at school by teachers for being 'thick' - just because he suffered from dyslexia.

He signed up to the DORE Programme after a recommendation from fellow rugby star and dyslexia sufferer Kenny Logan. The DORE programme features unique exercises to stimulate the brain and beat dyslexia.

Scott, 34, would stand tall in the back row of the pack as he captained Wales, Llanelli Scarlets and Rugby League side Wigan. But, as a youngster in class, he would hide at the back, afraid of what others would say.

'I used to hate school. I could not understand what teachers were trying to teach me,' he said. 'Teachers called me thick and stupid because they did not understand. They would say I wasn't trying, but I just could not take in the information and retain it, and I couldn't understand why I could not remember.'

Scott sat at the back of the classroom at school, unable to understand what was being written on the blackboard. On occasions it would reduce him to tears.

He was not diagnosed with the condition until he was 21 - three years after his Llanelli debut in 1990.

'If I hadn't played rugby, I'd probably have been a fireman,' he said. 'Because of my dyslexia I wasn't into the educational side of life.'

As Scott grew older, his reading and writing did not improve. 'I used to get my wife Nicola to write cheques for me and I used to have autographs given back to me because of the miss-spellings.'

Scott is married to Nicola and two of their children who have dyslexia are currently going through the DORE programme and have so far seen amazing results.

Scott Quinnell has written a book about his experiences. The Hardest Test, part of the Quick Reads series of books, is published on the March 6th at £1.99

Quick Reads are bite-sized books by bestselling writers and well-known personalities for people who have lost the reading habit or who simply want a short, fast paced read. For further information visit: www.quickreads.org.uk

'It was great to be asked to take part in the Quick Reads scheme. For so long my dyslexia meant reading was something I avoided whenever I could. These days I'm rarely without a biography or novel. I can't believe my story is now down on paper! I only hope my experience encourages others to pick up a book and discover for themselves what they've been missing.' - Scott Quinnell

There are 10 Quick Reads book published on 6th March by Scott Quinnell, Gordon Ramsay, Colin Jackson, Josephine Cox, Chris Ryan, Adele Parks, Gilda O'Niell, John Bird, Vanessa Feltz and a Doctor Who title.

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By the time he was 32 and had hung up his boots, Scott Quinnell had played rugby union for Llanelli 146 times, captained Wales, gained 52 caps and scored 11 international tries. He had even been chosen to play for the British Lions in Australia in 2001.

Yet on the day that he decided to retire, Quinnell - an undisputed Welsh hero - still only had the reading age of a seven-year-old. His writing and spelling were also poor, meaning that his wife had to fill in cheques for him. On more than one occasion fans threw autographs back in anger. When the sports star decided to tackle the first book in the Harry Potter series, in his late twenties, it took him two months to complete the 223 pages.

This week Quinnell will become one of the leading figures of a major campaign aimed at helping the millions of adults in Britain who are barely literate to read for pleasure. He will tell his story in a book that he wrote himself after being treated for severe dyslexia. It will be one of 10 launched on Thursday, World Book Day, as part of the Quick Reads campaign - which will also feature stories from chef Gordon Ramsay and Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson.