Ottobock workshop - A look into how Paralympian prosthetics and wheelchairs are maintained...

 

The sounds of machinery pervade the bustling repair workshop in the Paralympic Village.

There is a slightly surreal atmosphere with limbs, some plain and some emblazoned with Union Jacks or a shocking pink, being transported to and fro to be pored over by a cluster of athletes and technicians.

This is the Ottobock workshop. In the village, there is a frenzy of repairing - and occasionally replacing - of products athletes use to help athletes achieve sporting greatness. At least five different countries’ team shirts can be spotted in there at any one time due to the accessibility of this workshop: there are 78 technicians from 20 different countries who span most major languages.

This pit stop deals with minor problems that can be fixed very quickly to more serious ones, which will be solved over a few meetings. “We try and do it as fast as possible as athletes need their fittings for training or competitions,” said Rüdiger Herzog, an employee of Ottobock in the corporate communications department.

This swiftness is ensured by the workshop’s bulging stock rooms. Ottobock brought 15,000 spare parts to London whilst the total weight of the workshop equipment brought over from the base in Germany was 13.7 tonnes. “You can’t imagine how different the products are all over the world,” said Rüdiger Herzog.

The quality of athletes’ products is, of course, not always consistent too: athletes from developing countries tend to have less help in this area. The service for repairs is free for every athlete, however replacements have also been necessary in some cases.

“We’ve tried to repair things where we can but unfortunately there have been a couple of incidences where wheelchairs were beyond repair and we have had to offer them a new one,” said technician Rachel Neilson as she recounted an anecdote of a woman who came into the workshop a few days previously.

The woman was from Egypt and was sitting in a wheelchair that had completely been rebuilt from parts that were not for wheelchairs, for example, car parts that had been welded together. The unstable contraption had to be replaced in this case by the workshop for free.

This service is necessary for a worldwide sporting event that is to be played on an equal level. If it is a worldwide competition then people from any country should be able to participate. “It should not be a matter of money whether you can take part,” said Rüdiger Herzog.

Even less a matter of winning competitions, prosthesis is important for athletes’ mindsets. “It’s essential because you think about it all the time. If it hurts when walking across the room then that affects your quality of life. When it is fitting well then everything seems better just because you don’t have any pain can do whatever you want to,” said GB wheelchair basketball player Amy Conroy.

Ottobock has held an important role in Paralympic Villages since the 1988 Seoul Games. The German company is a “leading provider of innovative technology and services for people with limited mobility”. Originally founded over 90 years ago, it currently spans 44 countries. Ottobock prides itself on its first-class equipment, with every feature planned to suit athletes’ needs.

However, the company does not exclusively provide a service for athletes. Indeed, their main focus is on the general market. The company identifies with aspects of the Paralympic movement and supports it to broadcast its messages to a wider audience. Ottobock uses the vehicle of Paralympian ambassadors to do this. “We don’t have ambassadors because they win medals. The most important thing for us is that they can tell a story, they can transport a way of thinking that is helpful for others too and helps people understand what Ottobock is all about,” explained Rüdiger Herzog.

One ambassador, Australian recent gold medallist Kelly Cartwright, was the first woman to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with a C-Leg (a type of prosthetic leg). Although she is an inspiring ambassador, Ottobock are not saying that all amputees must climb Mount Kilimanjaro or win the Paralympic Games, just that the Paralympian athletes are good examples that help open people’s minds. “I’m sure not only those disabled, but all people can learn a lot from Paralympian athletes. They would advise making the most of your life situations and not to ask for the impossible,” said Rüdiger Herzog.

In educating the public about the Paralympic movement and using the athletes as role models, Ottobock has had an exhibition touring around the U.K. in the build-up to the Games until it settled in London for its duration. The exhibition had interactive features, where members of public could sample a handbike for example. The purpose of this exhibition was to enable the public “to have the possibility to get a bit closer to the Paralympic movement” whilst understanding what was going on at the Games.

Recently, Ottobock signed a contract with the IPC, which extended Ottobock’s involvement in the Paralympics until the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. This means that they will not only be able to deliver invaluable technical help to current and future Paralympians, but also transmit messages reflecting the Paralympian values into the future.

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