Sports
BOSTON- APRIL 20 Crowd cheer Richard Whitehead as he races up Heartbreak Hill during the Boston Marathon April 20, 2009 in Boston. Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) won the 113th edition marathon with 2:08:42.
KUALA LUMPUR - AUGUST 14 Thailand's handicapped amputee swimmer swims at the fifth ASEAN Para Games on August 14, 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sport plays a major role in the rehabilitation of a newly disabled person after a major trauma: increasing their physical strength, independence and a sense of well-being. Participation in sport is also a great way to maintain a healthy and independent lifestyle – keeping individuals with reduced mobility fit and healthy for longer, enhancing their quality of life.
Taking part in Sport improves a walking (ambulant) disabled persons physical, social and psychological rehabilitation.
Taking part in sport provides disabled people with a unique opportunity to overcome their impairments, both physical and social. It provides them with an opportunity to regain their sense of freedom, build their self-confidence and self-esteem turning disability into ability.
The benefits of sport for people with a disability:
- physical fitness reduces the risk of future physical deteriation
- sport and exercise help maintain a healthy body, preventing future illness
- increased psychological well-being of the individual.
- increased self-esteem and self-confidence,
- improved communication skills and social skills
- opportunity for social interaction
- greater independence and greater social wellbeing.
- open doors to a wealth of opportunities
- competing in sport for a living
- source of employment
LimbPower, a registered charity specialising in organising sports and arts events for amputees and other ambulant disabled adults and children offer relief to the physically disabled by aiding rehabilitation and improving the quality of life through the medium of recreational and competitive sports and arts.
“If I ever did one good thing in my medical career, it was to introduce sport into the treatment and rehabilitation of disabled people.”
(Sir Ludwig Guttmann, The Reader Digest, 1967)
