LIMBPOWER SPORT 2012 40 PAGE GUIDE TO SPORT FOR THE AMPUTEE AND AMBULANT DISABLED • FEATURING THE LATEST IN PROSTHETIC SPORTING TECHNOLOGY • INCREASE YOUR ENERGY • AMPUTEE GAMES PROGRAMME COVER PRICE £3.00 Makingmorepossible... 20 years helping amputees to achieve in sport whatwillyoudo? PROUD TO SUPPORT Stefanie Reid long jump Scott Moorhouse javelin www.proactiveprosthetics.co.uk [email protected] Tel:01252 702 500 Contents page Welcome Welcome 3 About us 4 Walking with Mark O’Leary 5 Neil Heritage’s Row2Recovery Challenge 6 We all want to live a longer, healthier and happier life. As Dietary tips to increase your energy levels 8 amputees we are prone to live a Competitive skiing prosthesis 10 more sedentary life than our able- LimbPower meets Danny Crates 13 bodied friends, which takes its toll LimbPower meets Jody Cundy 14 on our health. I read recently that 30 years ago above Five Steps to increase your fitness 17 knee amputees were believed to have an Amputee Games 19 increased mortality rate of 1.4 time that of Amputee Games Programme 20 a non-amputee. Things have changed greatly in the last 30 years with enhanced Five Steps to cycling 22 prosthetic technology, a better understan- A Nike accessory for a new age 25 ding of the importance of good nutrition of Paralympic glamour and a healthy lifestyle and improved access Five Steps to Running 27 to sports through events like the Amputee through better coping mechanisms, Games and Junior Games. improved cognitive abilities, enhanced Prosthetic Technology and sport 30 Not all of us have the potential to mood, increased self-confidence and Stewarts Law 32 become Paralympic athletes but we all self-esteem. Sports contacts 34 have the potential to live healthier lives by We hope that the articles in this magazine Stef Reid’s Top Tips 37 increasing our fitness, energy and health. provide you with the information you need Regular exercise increases our physical to take the first steps into leading a more Team LimbPower events and activities 38 well-being through improved physical active and fulfilled life. If you can’t find what The opinions expressed within this magazine are those of the strength, cardiovascular performance, you are looking for within these pages you authors and do not necessarily reflect LimbPower policy. We muscle tone, balance and coordination. are welcome to contact LimbPower directly. recommend that you do not engage in any physical activity without consulting your G.P. or rehabilitation consultant. We There is a plethora of research which would like to thank everyone who contributed articles, advertising, research and proof reading skills to the magazine. I would suggests that participation in sport also Kiera personally like to thank John Berbuto for designing the magazine. improves our psychological well-being Editor Editor: Kiera Roche Designer: John Berbuto © Limbpower 2012 3 About us LimbPower – The British Ambulant to get back into sport or try a Disabled Sports and Arts Foundation new sport we are incredibly proud was formed in November 2009, with the that a number or participants objective to provide amputees and the have gone on to join national ambulant disabled with opportunities to squads in sitting volleyball, basketball participate in sport and the arts to aid weight-lifting, badminton and shooting the physical, social and psychological and will hopefully be representing rehabilitation. Great Britain in the Paralympics. As a charity created by amputees and We have recently launched the Junior friends of amputees we are passionate about Games, replicating the Amputee Games helping new and existing amputees and the for children between the ages of five and ambulant disabled in their personal quests to eighteen. The inaugural Junior Games will live healthier, happier and more fulfilled lives. take place 15th – 16th September 2012. Our focus is on organising events and We also organise Cycling Clinics and activities where participants can learn new Running Clinics where amputee athletes skills, develop existing skills, meet with other and physiotherapists teach participants amputees and ambulant disabled people the skills they need to run or get back on already taking part, learn from each others a bike. We are working with a number of experiences and share ideas to inspire each sports governing bodies to promote their other to achieve more. events and to organise open-days for We are the organisers of the Amputee amputees and the ambulant disabled Games, where 80-100 amputees of all ages new to sport. and all abilities participate in 14 Paralympic In the autumn we will be producing a Sports over a long weekend, providing them LimbPower Arts Magazine, focusing on with a pathway to participation in sport at a access to the arts for the ambulant disabled. local, regional or national level. Whilst this To find out more about our work please event is aimed at primary amputees wanting visit our website at www. limbpower.com 4 LIMBPOWER SPORT 2012 Walking with Mark O’Leary As an able-bodied person including myself and several other I enjoyed hill walking and amputees, continued to walk multi-day trekking but after regularly and this led to a more losing my leg in a motorbike adventurous trip into the snowy accident that all came to an Moroccan Atlas mountains in end. Although I achieved a winter to climb Toubkal (northern good recovery with a well- Africa’s highest mountain) using fitting prosthesis I had simply crampons and an ice axe. lost the habit of walking for Walking regularly not only keeps pleasure and thought any me fit but has shown me that with ‘serious’ walking was the right attitude, preparation and beyond me. some determination, ordinary In late 2008 I was fortunate disabled people can achieve enough to receive an implant in extraordinary feats. Walking my stump bone that allows doesn’t have to be about getting fixation of my prostheses, to the top of mountains though, removing the need for a socket. there’s nothing quite like a gentle I hoped this would open up a walk in the British countryside, wealth of physical possibilities come with me sometime and I’ll and in 2009 I was asked if I would show you! like to participate in a trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro along with other amputees, prosthetists and Mark O’Leary will be joining a team of amputees walking physiotherapists. Hadrian’s Wall and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2013. After training hard and To find out more about both of these events visit successfully summitting Kili a core of the trekking group, www.limbpower.com or email [email protected] LIMBPOWER SPORT 2012 5 Neil Heritage’s Row2Recovery challenge “When the opportunity arose to row the 3000 miles Neil, who lost both his legs in had to ration water until they across the Atlantic ocean as part of the Row2Recovery a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in received assistance. The crew’s effort to raise £1M for charity, I knew I had to take part” said 2004, completed the race without ration was two litres of water a Neil Heritage from Poole. Double amputee Neil was one of six his prosthetic limbs and used a day. They rowed at night and men on the 29ft boat who rowed from the Canary Islands to seat that was specially made by slept during the day to combat Barbados. The team spent an epic 51 days at sea and his Dorset Orthopaedic. “Right from the overbearing heat. Neil lost an team crossed the line in 7th place. the outset, it was clear that I incredible two stone during the needed a system that would allow 51 day Atlantic Challenge. me to row without prosthetics. Speaking of the challenge Neil Knowing that the race would take said: “It was incredible and it was up to 80 days, 12 hours a day, terrible”. “I am really glad I did it I talked to my prosthetist Bob because it was an incredible Watts at Dorset Orthopaedic to experience but I would never help find a solution”. Bob do it again.” manufactured a custom seat that On arriving back in the UK Neil was made of carbon fibre and had the task of relearning to walk custom-moulded to fit me exactly. ahead of him after such a long It had a non-porous foam lining time at sea. “Fortunately Bob so I could wipe it dry when I made me a great new pair of finished my shift. The great fit Sabolich-type sockets with meant there was no rubbing and flexible inners supported by no sores. The only parts that did lightweight carbon frames. This chafe a bit were the straps new socket shape gives me far holding me into the seat when more control of the legs and the they became soaked in seawater. flexible sockets are really Neil’s team received a number comfortable to wear. I am always of set backs on the challenge. amazed at how easy Dorset The crew’s de-salinator broke Orthopaedic make it look and get down on Christmas Day, so they it perfect every time”, he said. 6 LIMBPOWER SPORT 2012 Dietary tips to increase your Keeping your energy levels up is essential for any sport. Having plenty of By Simon C. Dyall PhD RNutr energy enables you to perform at the best of your ability. However, this Health Sciences Research Centre isn’t easy. It doesn’t just happen. High energy levels result from eating the best Department of Life Sciences, foods at the right time, training hard and getting plenty of rest. The foods you Roehampton University eat affect how much energy you have and how well you perform.