The European Space Agency calls John McFall a 'Parastronaut Feasibility Study Member'.
ESA's new parastronaut John McFall. Image: AP/PA Images A BRITISH DOCTOR and former Paralympian who lost a leg in a motorbike accident has become the first astronaut recruit with a disability.
Born in Frimley in southern England, 41-year-old McFall had his right leg amputated aged 19, which scuppered his plans to join the military. “I went away travelling at the end of my teenage years and unfortunately had a motorcycle accident which resulted in the amputation of my right leg.” With sport still a “huge part” of his life, he represented the UK as a Paralympic sprinter, winning bronze in the T42 class 100 metres at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008.“I realised that I couldn’t be an athlete for my whole life. I probably needed to get a proper job,” McFall said.He embarked on medical studies, working meanwhile as a nursing assistant at a hospice. He is now training to become an orthopaedic surgeon and works as a trauma and orthopaedic specialist in the south of England.
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