Paralympian turned astronaut John McFall could soon be the first disabled person to go to space – and he credits the Paralympics with helping to challenge preconceptions of what disabled people can achieve.
Following a motorcycle accident that caused him to have his right leg amputated at the age of 19, McFall learned to run again and became a professional track and field athlete.
The Team GB sprinter won bronze in 100m T42 at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and later began working as a trauma and orthopedic surgeon.
McFall became the world’s first “parastronaut” in 2022 as the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a new class of trainee astronauts, and has taken part in the ESA’s “Fly!” feasibility study, which assessed the challenges a disabled person might face in space flight.
The study, he told scientific journal Nature last week, “so far has demonstrated that it is technically feasible for someone with a physical disability like mine to fly to space and to live and work as a fully integrated member of the ISS crew for a long mission.”
With part of the study due to conclude at the end of the year, McFall hopes that the ESA will “get someone with a physical disability flying,” he added.
“I hope that I get the opportunity to fly in the future. That would be tremendous. And I also hope that I can sow the seed for a legacy to follow on from, to look at the feasibility to fly with a wider range of disabilities,” the 43-year-old said.
The ESA noted in a media release that the study, which saw McFall take on winter and sea survival training and zero-gravity flights, marked “a significant milestone in the journey towards inclusivity in space exploration.”
“To this day, ‘Fly!’ has not identified any showstoppers which would prevent an astronaut with a disability like John’s from joining a long duration mission to the International Space Station, which typically lasts six months,” the agency said in a statement.
McFall pointed to the Paralympics as an example of how sports can change societal perceptions of disabled people.
“Elite athletes inspire so many people. Lots of people do sport and have this admiration for what it takes to compete at the elite level,” he explained.
“From the Paralympic point of view, it’s hugely important to connect with a wider audience, to make wider society aware of what people with physical disabilities are capable of.
“In the same vein, I think you can probably consider being an astronaut as a difficult, challenging job. So there is that admiration there to have someone with a physical disability in this position.”
At an ESA press briefing last month, McFall added that his career as a Paralympic athlete – along with having had a traumatic amputation and his background in science and medicine – have contributed to his current goal.
“I think all these have stood me in really good stead to help bridge the gap between this ambition that the ESA has and my background,” he said, “to try and achieve this goal of potentially (being) the first person with a physical disability to become an astronaut.”
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