Masters partners with The Hartford, which has offered a $35,000 (£27,000/€32,000) grant to non-profit organisation Adaptive Adventures, which is a member of Move United, an affiliate of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee offering opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in 70 adaptive sports.

This funding is aimed at enabling Adaptive Adventures to purchase adaptive sports equipment.

Masters became the United States' most-decorated Winter Paralympian with seven medals at Beijing 2022, and underlined the importance of adaptive equipment for athletes.

"It's extremely important," she told insidethegames.

"You think about Usain Bolt or Serena Williams or Michael Jordan trying to perform at their best without any of the equipment that they need to be at the top or to just be active in sports in general, it's impossible to do without the shoes or the racquet or the ball, and that's exactly what I think a lot of people don't realise about adaptive sports.

"The equipment is a part of you, and it's so important for two things - being able to fit you, and being accessible.

"And also the awareness that adaptive sports do exist.

"Every single person with unique bodies, whatever differences they have, physical differences or any form, can be athletes and they can live active lifestyles.

"That's exactly why I'm just so proud and honoured to be a Team Hartford athlete because they're bringing the awareness to it, and it's something as a 13-year-old getting into sport I had no idea even existed."

Masters explained that she was thrilled to take part in the initiative surprising two athletes.

"I love it for two reasons because it brings me back to my first moment when I experienced getting my first equipment, that was my sit-ski or a handcycle or the seat in a boat.

"It transforms not just to go to the high level, but gives me that opportunity to be active and an outlet in sports, because sports are just so powerful.

"Amanda and Peter, their faces light up when we presented the surprises of their equipment of a mono-ski and a handcycle.

"I know how much it means because it's so expensive.

"This was a part of a $35,000 grant, part of the surprise that will go to Adaptive Adventures, where Amanda and Peter can be.

"Peter was bragging that his medals weigh more than mine, that he's got more and he does more sport, and that's what it should be about - all the opportunities in sport that they're doing."

Masters also recognised the importance for young Para athletes of having a figurehead to look up to.

"I think if I was in their shoes, it would be for me just seeing someone that looks like you, and knowing you can do a sport, and especially if it's a sport that you are doing and you love doing," she reflected.

"Although I'm not as brave as Amanda, I don't like downhill skiing.

"Representation and seeing that it's possible sometimes helps them realise that someone like me can have a title, or maybe someone that looks like me can have that same exact title and reach for that goal to pass it and break it.

"Or not necessarily go to that level and just be a recreational athlete, an everyday athlete that is so crucial for every person in their life."

The Hartford has sponsored athletes with disabilities since 1994.

It has served as a title sponsor for The Hartford Ski Spectacular since 1993, and in 2019 launched its Ability Equipped programme which has donated more than 3,000 pieces of adaptive sports equipment and benefited more than 21,000 people.