Participation in sport is very important for amputees as they need to be active, fit and strong
LOSING A LIMB through an accident or illness can pose a huge psychological and physical challenge, according to the Amputee Disability Federation of Ireland, which says there are about 6,000 amputees in the Republic.
Seonaid Dunne, a triple amputee and a director of the federation, is well placed to highlight the problems facing amputees and says many of the problems which people in her situation face tend not to be fully appreciated.
Her own amputations took place 11 years ago after she was injured in a fire and in recent years she came together with a group of fellow amputees to found the federation with a view to providing support and advice for people in the same situation.
She says there are various types of amputee across the range of ages with differences in their potential to remain relatively active.
"There are people who have been involved in different types of situation, from young children who often adapt quite well to vascular amputees who can often be older people in their 50s and 60s and their new situation naturally takes some getting used to at that stage of life," she says.
Dunne says the Disability Act of 2005 was an important milestone for amputees as one of its definitions of disability is "a substantial restriction in the capacity of the person to carry on a profession, business or occupation in the State or to participate in social or cultural life in the State by reason of an enduring physical impairment".
While welcoming the legislation, she argues that it has not been acted upon in the way that might have been hoped. She says most other countries in Europe have access to free prosthetic services for amputees, but that in Ireland the process is slow with a case having to be made to the HSE for prosthetic replacements.
"Prosthetic limbs get damaged through wear and tear and would probably have a lifespan of three to five years before they need replacing and sometimes you see people who hobble about on worn limbs because of the hassle and cost of replacing them," she says.
Dunne says members of the Prosthetic Forum organisation in Northern Ireland, which does similar work to the federation in the Republic, are able to access free very high quality and high function protheses which people in the Republic could not aspire to because of the costs.
She says Spain is one example of a country where treatment in this area can also be acquired easily and without charge if people run into problems on holidays, for example.
"People in the UK criticise their NHS but people who lose a leg get a prosthetic leg free and a spare one along with that which is a long way from where we are at in this country in terms of facilitating amputees," she adds.
Last week an initiative which has its origins in the Football Association of Ireland was launched in the UCD sports centre in Dublin, where a sport development day was held for amputees. The aim is to encourage amputees to become more active in sport and also to meet others in similar circumstances and to derive support from the group situation.
The idea stems from the FAI's Football For All programme which tries to increase participation in the sport among different groups with various physical restrictions.
Oisín Jordan, the FAI's national co-ordinator for the programme, says football for amputees is a world game with many of the war-torn African countries leading the way in providing opportunities for players.
He says the programme started six years ago but the association is happy to give support to involvement in any other sports such as swimming or basketball.
"In actual competition, football is played by people who have lost a leg and we will have a team taking part in the Paralympic football competition in the next few weeks, but we would like to try to reach the grassroots and increase participation opportunities for the average person too," he says.
The Irish Wheelchair Association's sports development officer, Mark Barry, says there are many opportunities for people with limited mobility to take part in sport.
"We had the national wheelchair tennis open in Clonskeagh recently, wheelchair basketball and road-racing are popular, and people with limb absences participate even in triathlons, so people need to be aware of the possibilities," he says.
"We will have athletes such as David Malone, Jonathon Cummings and Ellen Keane going to Beijing for the Paralympics over the next few weeks and while that is at a high level, it does show how active people with limb absences can become if the will is there and the chance is presented," he says.
Seonaid Dunne says participation in sport is advantageous for amputees because there is a particular need for amputees to be active, fit and strong.
"What many may not realise is the amount of extra weight people are carrying around in prosthetic limbs and that requires a good basic level of strength and fitness, and anything that promotes and encourages that is extremely beneficial," she says.
"Amputation obviously requires a lot of psychological adjustment for the person affected and involvement in sport can help that process; I got a call recently from a woman in her 70s who has had an amputation and was inquiring about swimming classes which shows how positive some people can be," she says.