Paralympian doctor approved for space mission to break final frontier for people with physical disabilities

John McFall is a doctor, an athlete, a space enthusiast—and he happens to have a prosthetic leg. When he was 19, he had a motorcycle accident and had to have his right leg amputated. But that didn’t stop him from walking. In fact, it didn’t stop him from running either, and he went on to become a medal-winning Paralympian sprinter representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Paralympics.

Athletics pictogram (Paralympics).svg - Wikipediaen.m.wikipedia.org

As a curious person in the medical field, he has done extensive research on orthopedic surgery and physical trauma and therapy. Elizabeth Howell author of Space.com's 2024 article "Para-astronaut John McFall hopes to see an ISS astronaut with a disability fly by 2030" shares McFall’s commitment to understanding his prosthetic. "Being an athlete and, obviously, being an amputee, I'm not really a very passive amputee. I'm quite involved in my care. I know how my prosthesis works. I’m a technology demonstrator."

While in medical school, McFall became involved in the Paralympic Inspiration Programme, with the idea being to inspire future athletes in the Paralympics. Years and many prestigious positions and awards later, he decided to push his boundaries beyond Earth. He was chosen by the European Space Agency (ESA) to participate in the Fly! Feasibility Study, whose goal, according to writer Josh Dinner's Space.com article, "Paralympian John McFall could become 1st astronaut with a disability on ISS," was "to demonstrate the technical viability of flying someone with a disability in space."

Tissue Chips in Space | National Center for Advancing ...ncats.nih.gov

When he was first selected for the program in 2022, John gave an interview with the European Space Agency (shared on YouTube via Eastwind Magazine)

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He described his excitement at becoming the first person with a disability to be certified to go to the International Space Station (ISS) on a long mission. He said when he initially heard about the study, "I thought I'd be a very good candidate to help ESA with the question they were asking: 'Can we get someone with a physical disability into space?' And I felt compelled to apply."

John also revealed that the goal, before his accident, had always been to go into the military as he came from a "military family." But as mentioned, he pivoted his plans to achieve success in medicine and athletics. "Given I was an amputee, I’d never thought that being an astronaut was a possibility."

Why does he think he’s the right man for the job? "I think I’ve got quite an interesting focus or point of view for human space exploration, being the first cohort of astronauts with a physical disability. Not only do we have to undergo astronaut training, but we also have to work out what it is about having a physical disability that makes it trickier. And we have to overcome those hurdles."

McFall never discounts the teamwork of his fellow astronauts. In his recent interview with Howell, he made it very clear that though he’s being featured, everyone is of equal importance on this mission. "Yes, I’m the one we’re talking about, but there’s a team here that has really worked hard to deliver this. We’ve only got five of us in this team who have really had this vision of what we want to prove, to demonstrate to ESA: It’s a groundbreaking, world-first study really pushing the boundaries of human space exploration."