A maverick doctor makes Paralympics take off from Mandeville
long knowledge
◎Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Wei
Seventy or eighty years ago, the life expectancy of paralyzed patients was generally considered to be difficult to exceed two years, but a doctor named Gutman insisted on his unusual idea, "trialing" from the British village of Mandeville to let the disabled. The Olympic Games eventually went hand in hand with the Olympic Games, using sports to change the fate of countless disabled people.
Hope Walker, chief executive of the British National Paralympic Heritage Foundation, stands in front of a lawn in a residential area near Mandeville Hospital, trying to recreate the scene that appeared here on the opening day of the 1948 London Olympics.
It was still part of the hospital at the time, and 16 paralyzed patients in wheelchairs drew bows, aimed, and had an archery competition.
It was Gutmann, a neurologist who had fled from Germany to the United Kingdom, to organize the game.
He established the Spinal Injury Department at Mandeville Hospital at the behest of the British government, and at the same time injected a personal ideal that seemed unimaginable at the time - not only to make the wounded more comfortable to spend the few days left. , but to allow them to live longer with dignity.
Hope-Walker said no one wanted to work with Gutman at the time because it was supposed to be caring for the dying.
Even the British government, which invited him to act, often failed to understand his forward-looking and stubborn approach, and wanted to dismiss him several times.
Gutman insists on moving patients every two hours to avoid bedsores and infections.
He also asked his patients to do handicrafts and play sports, and more groundbreakingly, let them participate in sports competitions to enhance their physical fitness and regain their self-esteem.
So, after the archery competition in 1948, the Games in Mandeville Hospital were staged every year, with more and more events and increasing numbers.
In 1952, the arrival of a Dutch team upgraded the event to an international competition.
"The medals of the initial competition were also made by the patients here, as well as these small leather pockets for medals." Hope-Walker pointed to the display in the window of the National Paralympic Heritage Center.
In 1960, the competition founded by Gutmann came out of Mandeville for the first time and was held in the same venue after the Rome Olympics, which was subsequently recognized as the first Paralympic Games in history.
Since the 1976 Paralympic Games, the participants in the summer events were no longer limited to those with spinal injuries, but also increased athletes with amputations and visual impairments. The first Winter Paralympic Games were also held in the same year.
Gutmann has said that hosting sports will be physically and psychologically important for disabled people, "but the most important thing is to reintegrate them into society".
In Hope-Walker's view, this visionary idea has far-reaching implications for society as a whole.
"Regardless of your ability, disability or able-bodied, colour or race, we all have the same rights in life, whether it's playing sports or seeking jobs, we're all equals in society."
On the eve of the opening of the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, Hope-Walker said she was very much looking forward to seeing Beijing welcome the Paralympic event again after 2008.
"One of the purposes of holding the Paralympic Games is definitely to improve the integration of disabled people in the local society. During the preparation, progress and after the competition, many people can change their minds," she said.
"The Paralympics themselves are a great starting point, but there is a need for follow-up support. We need to make sure we don't regress to that stage of negative attitudes," she said.
Hope-Walker said that not only do many disabled athletes who have been cared for by Gutman say it has changed their lives, but also more disabled athletes who have never met Gutman.
The "Father of the Paralympic Games" was ambitious from the start, not wanting to show that people with disabilities can do well in sports, but to tell the world that they too can be elite athletes, just like Olympians.