The World Wars somehow influenced society’s view and treatment of individuals with physical impairments. Before the wars, individuals with disabilities were considered as burdens on society. But as many veterans of war returned home with physical impairments and psychological needs, new programs had to be put in place to build the transition back into society, as traditional methods were not able to accommodate.

In September 1943 the British government commissioned Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann as director of that Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Aylesbury. Guttmann accepted under the condition that he would be totally independent and that he could apply his philosophy as far as the whole approach to the treatment of those patients was concerned.

Guttmann’s goal was the integration of these patients into society as respectable and useful members despite their high degree of disability. The ever repeated question “Is it really worth while?” asked by all visitors during the first two years that the Centre operated was indicative as to how difficult it was to get over century old perceptions and prejudices. The defeatist attitude of the public was significantly expressed by one of Guttmann’s early patients who wrote “One of the most difficult tasks for a paraplegic is to cheer up his visitors!”.

The Centre opened on the 1st of February 1944 with 26 beds and so a new era started for spinal injuries patients. Guttmann introduced a whole new approach to the way tetraplegic and paraplegic patients were treated from the initial stages of injury until final resettlement.

Although Guttmann did not think of himself as Psychologist, the whole structure of the rehabilitation programme shows deep understanding of the psychology of the patient with spinal cord injury.

Physical training and sports played an essential role during the Jewish revival after the end of the 19th century. It was not just an expression of a new Jewish self-confidence but also a way for the integration of Jews into a non-Jewish environment. One can assume that Guttmann’s involvement in sports activities during his youth in Germany, as a member of the Jewish fraternity, played an important part in the inclusion of sport in the rehabilitation programme for the spinal injuries patients. Guttmann’s programme aimed at reintegration into a normal life which especially in a society such as the one of Great Britain included sport.

Besides sport’s therapeutic value as complement to the traditional physiotherapy (in restoring the disabled person’s strength, co-ordination, speed and endurance) sports events have a great advantage because of their recreational and psychological value. At the same time sport according to Guttmann counteracts abnormal psychological and antisocial attitudes – a disabled person’s attitude to himself deteriorating into an inferiority complex characterised by anxiety and loss of self-confidence and personal dignity, resulting in self-pity and self-isolation. The aims of sport are to develop self-discipline, self-respect, competitive spirit and comradeship – mental attitudes that are essential for the disabled person’s integration into the community

The team games that Guttmann incorporated in the rehabilitation programme soon developed into sports activities in which men, women and children could participate upon their discharge from the National Spinal Injuries Centre. Soon more patients from other Units all over Great Britain started participating. A sports movement was developed that became known as the Stoke Mandeville Games. The first Games, with 14 ex–Servicemen and 2 Ex-Servicewomen competing in Archery on the grass outside the hospital ward, were held on the 28th July 1948, the same day that the London Olympic Games started. The date was not chosen by accident. Guttmann wanted his games to have a larger forum. He envisioned international Games. Since 1948 the Stoke Mandeville Games were held every year. In 1952 a team of Dutch paraplegic war veterans crossed the Channel to compete with their comrades at Stoke Mandeville in the first International Games for athletes with disabilities.

The term “Paralympic Games” was adopted later in 1984 by the International Olympic Committee. It was decided that the games should be held in the country hosting the Olympic Games. This happened for the first time in 1960 in Rome right after the Olympic Games. 350 athletes with disabilities, men and women, from 24 countries, participated. At the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Mexican observers were present with the purpose of staging the Games together with the IXX Olympic Games in Mexico City. There was some surprise when two years prior to the 1968 event, the Mexican government backed out of the commitment to host the Paralympics because of technical difficulties.

 Wanting to keep the tradition going, Sir Ludwig Guttmann accepted the invitation of the Israeli government to host the 1968 International Stoke Mandeville Games at Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv. Israel’s offer to host the Games was motivated by its wish to mark its 20th anniversary of independence. The Opening Ceremony on 4 November was held at the Hebrew University stadium in Jerusalem, before a crowd of more than 10,000. The Games were declared open by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Yigal Allon. A total of 750 athletes from 29 countries participated.

The Paralympic Games have become a worldwide phenomenon, watched and followed by millions. This has achieved a tremendous admiration and understanding of disabled people, especially in countries who previously denied and hid disability.

Source – The “Poppa” Guttman http://www.poppaguttmanncelebration.org