Healing Their Broken Bodies: Breaking Medical Barriers Through Sport Andres Chavez, Caia Kamplain, Henry Schuett, Angelica Trillo Senior Division Group Performance Process Paper Word Count: 498 Chavez Kamplain Schuett Trillo 1 Process Paper We were intrigued by early medical history topics and wanted something unique, inspirational, and that had a powerful legacy for marginalized populations. We discovered Sir Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, the father of the Paralympics, and we were captivated by his innovative therapies that revolutionized treatment of spinal cord injury patients. We created our performance Healing Their Broken Bodies: Breaking ​ Medical Barriers Through Sport in honor of Guttmann’s success in breaking medical, ​ physical and mental barriers for patients globally. Each team member began background research on Dr. Guttmann the history of spinal cord injury treatment. We developed timelines of Spinal Injury treatment and the history of ParaSports. There were a number of barriers as we decided to focus on the use of sport and Guttmann’s role in the creation of what became the modern day paralympics. We gathered extensive primary and secondary source materials to build our understanding of the medical, physical and mental barriers paraplegics faced during WWII. We interviewed Dr. Guttman’s daughter, Dr. Eva Loeffler who provided insight into the family, the life of her father, and an understanding of his passion to give “life back to his patients”. She directed us to an archive in England that provided digitized primary sources, unfortunately, the COVID 19 shut down meant that the archivists were unable to send digitized versions of the letter that secured the Guttman’s escape from Germany and a copy of the board meeting notes from the approval of the first Stoke Mandeville games. Limited visual resources and a large collection of written resources helped us determine that performance was the best category for our topic. We also felt the story would be more compelling if we could connect personally with the audience. We all Chavez Kamplain Schuett Trillo 2 worked collaboratively on research, character development, script writing, set design and creation of props and costumes. We lost access to all materials because our state locked down during Spring Break. Surprisingly, we think it forced us to improve our script because we had to be very intentional in how we planned stage direction and developed the flow of the script. Dr. Guttmann’s spinal cord injury treatments forced the medical field to shift from hospice care to rehabilitation. He was passionate about restoring quality of life to patients, however it required that he institute methods and practices to break very real mental and physical barriers. His innovative physiotherapy methods, got patients out of bed and restored strength and restored mobility. By implementing sports into physical rehab, he gave the patients something to work toward which broke mental barriers that could limit recovery. His treatment gained global acceptance allowing patients to break previously unheard of physical barriers and engage in their own rehabilitation. His initiation of the Stoke Mandeville games changed public perception and created a sense of normalcy that broke societal barriers. His legacy includes the creation of the international Paralympic games which now includes hundreds of thousands of athletes with a broad spectrum of physical impairments to break barriers in every competition. Chavez Kamplain Schuett Trillo 3 Bibliography Primary Sources Auftrag, J. N. Letter to Ludwig Guttmann, "Certificate," June 9, 1923. Wellcome Library. When the rise of the Nazi party began to discriminate against Jews many people were forced out of their professions. Among these people was a doctor named Ludwig Guttmann who would go on to be the father of the Paralympics. This notice was sent to him to inform him of his proficiency as a doctor and to eventually stop him from practicing medicine in the country of Germany. Australian Paralympian Tony South receives his gold medal at the 1968 Tel Aviv Summer Paralympics from the founder of the Paralympics, Ludwig Guttman. ​ Photograph. What Are the Paralympic Winter Games All About? Accessed October 14, 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/what-are-the-paralympic-winter-games-all- about. This is a photograph of Dr. Guttmann presenting Tony South with the gold medal for the 1968 Tel Aviv Summer Paralympics. ​ Buckinghamshire County Council, ed. "1950s The first international games." Stoke Mandeville Legacy. Last modified March 13, 2014. Accessed May 6, 2020. http://www.mandevillelegacy.org.uk/page_id__18.aspx. This article describes how Stoke Mandeville transitioned into a small gathering into being an official part of the Olympics. The hospital would house the athletes and the crowd was mostly family members there to support. The people that helped out with the games were staff members of different hospitals that Dr. Guttmann asked to help. By 1956 the Games started to gain traction and was recognized by the Olympics. This helped my group to see how long the social change took for the Paralympics to become part of our culture. Bull, Albert H. "Sir Ludwig Guttmann: From a Grateful Patient." Sir Ludwig Guttman: ​ From a Grateful Patient. Accessed October 29, 2019. ​ https://www.nature.com/articles/sc19796.pdf?origin=ppub. Rev. Albert Bull was a patient at Stoke Mandeville in 1945. He was an Army Champlain whose landing craft was hit with a shell during the invasion of Sicily. After that, he became a paraplegic and with no hope was transferred to Tripoli to be bedridden with no hope. He read in the times about Stoke Mandeville and soon after transferred and changed his life forever. He credits his recovery to Dr. Ludwig Guttman for helping him be more independent. Forman, Harrison. Bombing of the Polish countryside during the September ​ Campaign of 1939. Photograph. UMW Libraries. 2009. Accessed October 22, ​ 2019. https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/pol/id/103/rec/6. This image shows the Nazis invading a Polish community in 1939. This image gives historical context to why Ludwig Guttmann moved to Stoke Mandeville from Poland during World War 2. Chavez Kamplain Schuett Trillo 4 Getty Images. International Stoke Mandeville Games. August 2, 1969. Photograph. ​ ​ Hulton Archive. This photo is of the opening induction to the Stoke Mandeville Games. Induction began with a bouquet visit from Queen Elizabeth II. Her visit was one of many famous figures in history visiting Guttmann's cause, helping show examples of social belonging. Many paraplegics were socially impacted and inspired to physically come back and overcome their physical disabilities. Gutmann, Ludwig. "History of the National Spinal Injuries Centre, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury." Proceedings of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the ​ Society Held at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, 27th to 29th July 1967, ​ July 27, 1967, 115-26. This is a report that Dr. Guttmann wrote to the Scientific Meeting of the Society and sent to the administration to show the progress of his patients. The journal reported that Guttmanns's sport-based rehab helped increase morale rates and many SCI patients no longer were dependent on morphine. Guttmann, Ludwig. Letter to Edith Wolfsman, October 11, 1967. https://royalsociety.org/collections/wolfson-archive/stoke-mandeville/. A letter where Ludwig Guttmann is requesting money for an indoor sports stadium. He gives a brief history of the starting of his paraplegic sports movement. He shows that just because their bodies are a little broken, they're still people and they still deserve the things that other athletes get. ———. Letter to Gilbert Monckton, January 8, 1968. https://royalsociety.org/collections/wolfson-archive/stoke-mandeville/. Ludwig Guttmann wrote a letter thanking the Wolfson Foundation for supplying funds for the National Sports Centre for the Paralyzed and other Physically Handicapped. He shows his extreme gratitude for the funds that were given for his organization. ———. Textbook of Sport for the Disabled. Aylesbury, UK: HM + M Publishers, 1976. ​ ​ This book is written by Ludwig Guttmann who was the father of the Paralympics. In this book, he wrote about his discoveries and medical procedures for people with disabilities. Ludwig Guttman used many revolutionary types of medicine to help people with disabilities recover swiftly; using the incorporation of sport. This textbook helps teach future generations of doctors about his discoveries. Guttmann, Ludwig, M.D. "New Hope for Spinal Cord Sufferers." S.A. Tydskrif Vir ​ Geneeskunde, March 23, 1946. ​ In this medical journal from the S.A. Tydskrif Vir Geneeskunde, Guttmann analyzes the spinal cord injuries through examining brain waves. In addition to examining brain-behavior from spinal injuries, Guttmann also analyzes diseases commonly caught by paraplegics before introducing the medical practices that he later experiments on his patients. Chavez Kamplain Schuett Trillo 5 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation. March of Nations through ​ the Years. Aylesbury, UK: International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports ​ Federation, 2017. Accessed October 29, 2019. http://www.iwasf.com/iwasf/index.cfm/games/iwas-world-games11/past-games2/ . These six pictures show the Nation Marches through the years of the Paralympic games. The third picture shows a wonderful example of the Stoke Mandeville ward playing the Paralympics. Jane. Letter, 1940's. see and hear: museum