19th April 2024
Patients treated at the Amputee Rehabilitation Centre at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast took part in a special free event to encourage those living with limb loss to take up sport.
Belfast Trust Rehabilitation Consultant Lorraine Graham said: “We recognise that participating in sport provides a mechanism for healthier living, meeting new friends, achievement of personal goals and provides physical and mental benefits. The aim of the event was to let our service users know what is out there, because having prosthetic limbs or being a wheelchair user shouldn’t discourage anyone from taking part in sport.”
A wide range of sports were made available to experience including bowling, golf, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, inclusive cycling, wheelchair hurling and badminton. Lorraine continued: “We wanted our patients to come and have a go at something they haven’t tried before or didn’t know how to become involved. Last year’s event was a huge success and many people who are in wheelchairs or have prosthetic limbs were able to experience a new joy in life through sports they thought they could not access.”
The Amputee Rehabilitation Centre is based in the Regional Disablement Service at Musgrave Park Hospital. It is the centre for the assessment of patients who have had amputations or were born with the absence of an arm or leg. It is staffed by nurses who are experienced in amputee care..
The service is led by consultants in rehabilitation medicine and the team includes specialist physiotherapists, occupational therapists, prosthetists who make and fit prosthetic limbs, a clinical psychologist, nurses, dieticians and social workers.
Consultant Lorraine Graham (middle in pink) with some of her team
More members of the team at the Regional Disablement Centre
Some service users at the Olympia leisure centre
Wheelchair hurling at the special sports day for patients living with limb loss