Maui, Hawai’i
A friend of mine who is disabled (or are we supposed to say ‘differently abled’ in this age of political correctness? anyway, he walks with the aid of two sticks) has pointed out to me how lucky I am to be able to do the sports I do – or at least, if I can’t do them, it’s due to general klutzishness rather than lack of physical capacity.
I do, of course, realise this, and am grateful to have a (relatively) fit and healthy body, especially because I am keenly aware how in only a split second I could go from being able-bodied to being disabled. In the world of adrenaline junkiedom, there is any number of salutary tales of people who had a bad accident and lost forever their ability to take part in sports.
There are also the tales of people who suffered awful injuries, and managed to overcome them to continue competing and participating in sport. It would be nice to think that if something bad happened to me, I might have the resilience and strength of character to pick myself up and carry on constructively. I hope I never need to find out. So I’ll continue to keep my sports strictly towards the low-adrenaline end of the spectrum.
[Photo: Jami Goldman, runner, who lost both her legs to frostbite when she was 19]