The second world war had a profound effect on people of the world who lived through that terrible conflict. Millions of brave soldiers, sailors and airmen lost their lives in the quest to win freedom for the rest of us.

For every death, many more were wounded and a great number were disabled for life. Thousands were in wheelchairs. Countless numbers of these brave souls had lost limbs.

Sir Ludwig Guttmann was born in Poland in 1899. By 1939 he was a leading neurologist working at a Jewish hospital in the beautiful city of Breslau on the Oder river. He was forced to Good88 flee to England when the Germans invaded Poland.

He strongly believed that sport was a wonderful therapy for building physical strength and the well being of those who were severely injured. The British government founded the National Spinal Injuries Center in a city near London and asked him to be the director of the center.

He organized different games the disabled could play. Each year a few more athletes would enter the games by 1953 approximately 145 were entered.

The Olympics directors were beginning to take notice of