Dorset Orthopaedic

This week the Polish Canoe Federation in the City of Poznan are hosting the European Olympic Qualifier, Paracanoe World Championships and the World Cup. This is an important event in the Paracanoeing calendar given the sports new Paralympic profile.

Rob Oliver, a below knee amputee, has been training hard in recent months and this has led to him gaining a place  in the Paracanoe World Championships which runs over two days from  May 16-17, 2012.

Rob, who had part of his leg amputated after a sporting incident, is one of the newest members of the GB paracanoeing squad in a sport that will make its Paralympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016.

Spotted at an ID talent day Rob has been consistently setting the fastest times on the squad and now has an opportunity to show his skill in competition.

His dedication to the sport is illustrated by his decision to have a prosthetic water sports leg made by Dorset Orthopaedic.

The sport has given Rob a new lease of life.

There are three classifications in paracanoe — LTA, which is for athletes with leg, trunk and arm mobility; TA for those with trunk and arm mobility and A, for those with arm mobility only.

Find out more at www.gbcanoeing.org.uk and the official event website: www.kayakpl.com

This week Matt Hughes, Clinical Manager and Orthotist at Dorset Orthopaedic, had another successful clinic at the Spinal Unit at Salisbury District Hospital.

This regular monthly event is is organised by the resident physiotherapists at Salisbury Hospital for their out-patients. On this visit the pre-preg carbon fibre AFO was of particular success.

Dorset Orthopaedic’s lightweight bespoke AFO is moulded to fit client’s limbs and then manufactured from the same materials found in Formula 1 racing cars at Dorset Orthopaedic’s manufacturing facilities in Ringwood.

The one fitted this week allowed a teenager who suffers from weakness in the knees due to a spinal injury, to stand and walk a short distance without his crutches for the first time on his long journey to recovery.

The AFO gave enough support so this trumpet playing teenagers knees wouldn’t give way while standing and he was able to freely swing his legs.

This musical teenager can now choose to stand or sit while playing his trumpet in his orchestra.

Dorset Orthopaedic’s wide range of clinical expertise in orthotics and prosthetics, plus the manufacturing facilities to produce bespoke products allow clients to explore the possibilities of living life without limits.

Call to discover how we can help you.

Help for Heroes ambassador Neil Heritage, who lost both of his legs while serving with the armed forces in Iraq, launches the 2012 Asahi Beach Polo Championships which is raising funds the charity

FOUR national teams will be battling for top honours at this summer’s fifth British Beach Polo Championships in Poole.

For the first time since the annual two-day event came to Sandbanks, riders from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales will locking mallets during a closely-fought seaside competition.

As well as the beach polo, there will also be a food village, charity fashion show and a charity race between an Audi Q7 and pony in aid of Help for Heroes.

On Saturday,the organisers have pledged to donate £1 to the charity for every pair of white jeans donned for finals day.

Help for Heroes ambassador Neil Heritage, from Poole, was among guests who were attending the launch event yesterday.

The former soldier was injured in Iraq in 2004 and the charity helped fund new sockets for his prosthetic legs from Dorset Orthopaedic.

He now works as a PE teacher at a local school.

Great Britain’s sailing lineup for London 2012 was completed on Wednesday with the selection of the final three sailors.

The British Olympic Association has confirmed the Royal Yachting Association’s nominations of Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes – veterans of the 2008 Games – in the 49er class, and Alison Young will make her Olympic debut in the Laser Radial event.

Helena Lucas joins the GB Paralympics ranks in the one-person 2.4mR event and completes the lineup for this summer’s Games at Weymouth and Portland.

“We’ve now got 13 teams in the 13 events – Olympic and Paralympic,” said Stephen Park, the RYA Olympic manager and sailing team leader.

“As we go into the Games, I can honestly say hand on heart that we’ve got people who’ve got potential to [win a] medal in every single event. We’ve never had that before.

“That doesn’t mean to say that we’ll [win a] medal in every event – far from it – but in terms of preparing a good team, the sailors have done an incredible job to date.

“Having teams selected at this stage provides us with an opportunity for them to pull together, to bond as a group and really allows that to add an extra dimension to their preparation in the last weeks up until the Games.”

The four sailors are the final additions to the British team for the Olympics and Paralympics.

The three-times Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie will represent TeamGB in the Finn class, Paul Goodison will be the Laser representative and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson will race in the Star class.

Nick Dempsey and Bryony Shaw are the selections for the male and female RS:X events respectively, while Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell team up for men’s 470.

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark are the women’s 470 representatives, while Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor will compete in the women’s match racing event.

Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell will represent ParalympicsGB in the Skud class, while John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas have been chosen for the Sonar event.

Paralympic sailing facts

• Sailing made its full Paralympic debut in Sydney in 2000.
• Paralympic sailors compete in three categories – single-handed keelboat (2.4mR), two-handed keelboat (Skud-18) and three-handed keelboat (Sonar).
• The 2012 Paralympic sailing competition will feature 80 athletes.
• Great Britain has never won a Paralympic sailing medal

As sponsors of Stephen Thomas’s prosthetics legs Dorset Orthopaedic are excited at the prospect of seeing a Paralympic medal. Will this be the year Stephen Thomas, John Robertson and Hannah Stodel  bring home the first sailing medal for Team GB?