John McFall, from the United Kingdom, is a member of the ESA Astronaut Class of 2022. John McFall is one of the more than 22 500 candidates who submitted a valid application in 2021 in response to ESA’s call for new astronauts for missions to the International Space Station and beyond. ESA’s new class of astronauts includes career astronauts, members for the astronaut reserve and astronauts with a physical disability for a feasibility project. They will start a 12-month basic training at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in spring 2023.
Credit: P. Sebirot/ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA), a cooperative space program among the nations of Europe, made history in November 2022, naming the world’s first physically disabled astronaut. Paralympian and orthopedic surgeon John McFall joined 15 others out of 22,500 applicants in the journey to space. McFall had his right leg amputated after a motorcycle accident when he was 19 years old. Before his accident, he was a runner. McFall persevered through recovery and made it to the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. He secured the bronze medal in the 100-meter race.

McFall was born on April 25, 1981, in Frimley, England. He was a runner before his accident in 2000. Determined to reach his goals despite his new existence as an amputee, McFall worked through recovery all the way to the Paralympics. He became a professional runner in 2005, only five years after his accident. After his success as a Paralympian, McFall trained as an orthopedic surgeon.

He studied at Swansea University in Wales 2004. He continued his education to earn his master’s degree at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff in 2005. Not one to shy away from challenges and education, McFall graduated from Cardiff University School of Medicine in 2014. He joined the Royal College of Surgeons in 2016 and works as a trauma and orthopedic specialist in the south of England.

McFall heard that the ESA was looking to hire a Paralympian as an astronaut in February 2021 as he worked in the intensive therapy unit helping patients recover from COVID-19. He started filling out an application and soon was undergoing memory and physical tests and answering difficult questions in interviews.

The ESA named McFall and 15 others as official recruits in November 2022. The group will undergo more testing to ensure their ability to fulfill the role. McFall will take part in the Parastronaut Feasibility Project which will help the ESA understand how space flight works for astronauts with physical disabilities.

September 13, 2016

Beginning last week, on September 7, the Summer Paralympic Games took center stage in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just a couple weeks after the close of the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games are a multisport international competition for athletes who have physical or mental disabilities. Like the Olympic Games, the Paralympics are divided into Summer Games and Winter Games. Since 1988, the Paralympics have been held after the Olympic Games and at the same site as the Olympics. The Paralympic Games are a separate competition from the Special Olympics, which are restricted to athletes with intellectual disabilities. The Summer Paralympic Games attract about 4,000 athletes from some 150 countries.

U.S. sprinter David Brown, left, runs with his guide, Jerome Avery, in the 100-meter T11 race at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janero, Brazil, on Sept. 11, 2016. Credit: © Jason Cairnduff, Reuters

Team USA track and field stars won big over the past weekend. Sprinter David Brown (with guide Jerome Avery) won his first gold medal in the 100-meter T11 race. (T11 athletes are nearly or totally blind.) Tatyana McFadden won her second-consecutive Paralympic gold in the women’s 400-meter T54 race, and Gianfranco Iannotta topped the men’s 100-meter T52. (T54 and T52 athletes are confined to wheelchairs.) Deja Young won gold in the women’s 100-meter T47 race. (T47 athletes have upper limb impairment.) In the women’s triathlon, Team USA’s Grace Norman claimed PT4 gold and Allysa Seely, Hailey Danisewicz, and Melissa Stockwell won gold, silver, and bronze respectively in the PT2 competition. (PT2 and PT4 athletes have different mobility impairments.) Team USA swimmers Elizabeth Marks, Roy Perkins, Becca Meyers, and Brad Snyder won gold in their respective events. As of today (the games continue through Sunday), Team USA Paralympians have won 46 medals, including 16 golds. China has the most medals (118), and the United Kingdom (63) and Ukraine (61) have the second- and third-most medals.

Participation in the Paralympic Games is organized into five major disability categories: athletes who are amputees; athletes with brain damage; athletes with significant intellectual disability; athletes confined to wheelchairs; and athletes with visual impairment. Other athletes have such physical conditions as dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, or deformities of the limbs. The summer games consist of 20 different sports, including the unique sports of boccia (a lawn bowling sport), goalball (a blind team sport), and wheelchair dance. The Paralympic Games began in 1948 with a sports competition that involved veterans of World War II (1939-1945) who had spinal injuries.