Courage is an overused word in sport. Six foot four footballers running headlong into packs is tough, but perhaps more foolish than brave.
This week, however, quadriplegic sailor Hilary Lister showed true courage in the pursuit of a sporting record, becoming the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain, incredibly using only a straw to achieve it.
A set of three straws to be exact, using ‘sip and puff’ technology, where a sipping or puffing motion on the straws strapped to Lister’s headset controlled an on board computer which adjusted the sails and steering accordingly to combat 40 foot waves in the Irish Sea and Scotland’s infamously treacherous conditions.
The list of tasks Hilary Lister is unable to do is lengthy.
She lived a normal healthy life until age eleven, before being diagnosed with a degenerative condition that left her a quadriplegic by 23. Now 36, she cannot feed or dress herself nor go to the bathroom without assistance from her husband or a carer.
Hilary can move her head, eyes and mouth. Nothing more.
The journey was broken into many legs, taking several months of sailing across more than a year to allow Lister to dock most nights to be fed, receive drugs to ease her constant pain and analyse weather conditions for the following day.
Given her achievements since taking up sailing to beat the inevitable depression that set in since becoming virtually house-bound, it is perhaps more appropriate to talk of all the things Hilary is capable of.
She is the first disabled woman to cross the English Channel, now first to solo circumnavigate Britain and perhaps most significantly, an impressive beacon of true courage in sport and life.
I hope commentators and fans alike keep some perspective on ‘courage’ and ‘heroes’ during this footy finals campaign.
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September 5th 2009 @ 12:28am
Knives Out said | September 5th 2009 @ 12:28am | Report comment
Excellent article and a truly fantastic achievement. Heart warming stuff.
September 5th 2009 @ 8:48am
onside said | September 5th 2009 @ 8:48am | Report comment
Courage in team sports can be a misnomer. Adrenaline takes over ,and a player ‘rushes in’
to a contest where he is likely to suffer injury.Body on the line stuff. It’s usually an impulsive
action that has two bob each way about it. Succeed , and the player is a hero, fail, doesnt
matter,he is courageous ,because he was never realisticy expected to win the contest.
One of my favoutrite stories about courage came at the 1948 London Olympics .No I wasnt
there.Ten years earlier ,in 1938 ,KAROLY TACACS, a member of the Hungarian world champion
pistol shooting team, had his pistol shooting right hand blown off by a grenade.He taught himself
to shoot with his left hand , and in 1948 won an Olympic gold medal in the rapid fire pistol event.
September 7th 2009 @ 8:26pm
Knives Out said | September 7th 2009 @ 8:26pm | Report comment
Interesting story too.
September 5th 2009 @ 5:15pm
Dave said | September 5th 2009 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
the phrase…….”.. an overused word in sport……..” ………is an overused phrase in writing on sport
September 5th 2009 @ 10:38pm
Mossy said | September 5th 2009 @ 10:38pm | Report comment
I agree totally that courage is overused these days.
A footy player puts his head over the ball when its his turn, a league prop explodes 10 metres on collision path with same, or an opening batsmen faces the curry of some chin music on a green top. It’s not long before courage is called to describe the feats.
I think tough describes these, courage should be left for staring ife down the barrel. And in the case of this article, courage is probably underused.