Interviews
Found interviews with Natalie du Toit and Oscar Pistorius that were held prior to the Olympic and Paralympic games.
Also in there, amputee football teams and the Michael Jordan of wheelchair basketball.
Paralympics - South Africa
During the past 2 weeks we were not only inspired by the South African paralympic team’s performance that resulted in 6th place overall but also by their gritty determination and never-say-die attitude. Thank you, you’ve all made us proud. You’ve shown that life’s challenges are there to be overcome.
Although you can see all our medalists on the official website, you can now also see them here:
BOUWER Charl gold
du TOIT Natalie gold x5
HAYES Ilse 1 gold, 1 silver
JOHNSON Philippa gold x2
KILPATRICK Gavin, THOMSON Michael bronze
LANGENHOVEN Hilton gold x3
LOMBARD Fanie 1 gold, 1 bronze
MOKGALAGADI Teboho bronze
NEL Riaan silver
NEWMAN Nicholas bronze
PAUL Kevin gold
PISTORIUS Oscar gold x3
ROOS David silver
SAPIRO Shireen gold
SLATTERY Tadhg bronze
van der MERWE Fanie gold x2
van DYK Ernst 1 gold, 1 bronze
Molly
I’ve written about the monkey’s who use robotic arms before. I got an email and this time it’s about a 3 legged pony.
Meet Molly. She’s a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.
But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.
Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.
‘This was the right horse and the right owner,’ Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She’s tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.
Molly’s story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.
The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports.
And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. ‘It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch a three-legged horse,’ she laughs.
Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time doing it.
‘It’s obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life,? Moore said. ‘She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.’
Barca concluded, ‘She’s not back to normal, but she’s going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.’
Inspiring people
I’ve just watched some of today’s highlights at the paralympics and wow, it is incredibly inspirational!
Jiang Fuying of China came 3rd in the women’s 100m backstroke S6.
Oscar Pistorius won a gold in the men’s 100m T44.
And the women’s 100m T44 was very dramatic with the woman in front going down and taking the 2nd placed athlete with her. Green from Germany won the event.
Monkeys control a robot arm with their thoughts
I just posted about the Luke prosthetic arm and stumbled upon an interesting article from the NYTimes.
Well, seems that now even monkeys are into picking up grapes with robotic arms that they control with their minds.
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