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Desert Island Discs

Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2022

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Professor Nick Webborn has chaired the British Paralympic Association since 2017. He is a world-leading expert on Paralympic sports medicine and the most widely-published author on the subject. He has attended 11 Paralympic and one Olympic Games. He was born in Swansea in 1956, trained as a doctor in London and joined the RAF as a junior medical officer. In 1981 he was playing in an RAF rugby match when a mistimed opposition tackle left him with a severe spinal injury. After many months of treatment and rehabilitation, which he now describes as 'long and tortuous,' he wanted to return to work in medicine, but found that there was a reluctance to employ a doctor with a disability. He worked as a GP and also pursued an interest in sports medicine, leading to research in this area and an academic role. When he saw the medical support available for Olympic athletes, he felt strongly that para-athletes deserved the same level of specialist help - especially as many also had to deal with underlying problems that their Olympic peers did not face. His pioneering research has made Paralympic sport safer for athletes, and has driven the development of sports medicine in areas such as rehabilitation. He also represented Great Britain in wheelchair tennis in 2005. Nick is Professor of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Brighton. DISC ONE: Heroes by David Bowie DISC TWO: Hallelujah, composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by London Musici Chamber Choir and London Musici Orchestra, conducted by Mark Stephenson DISC THREE: Jamaica Farewell by Nina and Frederik DISC FOUR: Will Ye Go Lassie Go by The Corries DISC FIVE: For Crying out Loud by Meat Loaf DISC SIX: This is Me by Keala Settle DISC SEVEN: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond DISC EIGHT: You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Works of Charles Dickens LUXURY ITEM: Nick’s adapted Segway, with a built-in espresso machine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This is Me by Keala Settle Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.9

Before you get stuck into this episode, I want to tell you about some changes we're

0:08.9

making to where you can find this podcast.

0:11.5

From next month, you can hear desert island discs 28 days before anyone else, for free

0:16.8

on BBC Sounds.

0:18.5

If you haven't already, you can download the BBC Sounds app to listen to desert island

0:23.2

discs first.

0:24.2

It's easy.

0:25.5

And sure there, you'll find even more podcasts that are available on Sounds before anywhere

0:30.3

else, live BBC Radio and exclusive music mixes.

0:34.9

Just search for desert island discs, subscribe and if you want, we'll send you a notification

0:40.4

every time a new episode is ready.

0:42.5

I told you it was easy.

0:44.2

Now, let's get back to the podcast.

0:46.5

Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island discs podcast.

0:50.4

Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to

0:54.6

take with them if they were cast away to a desert island.

0:58.3

And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original podcast.

1:02.8

I hope you enjoy listening.

1:24.5

My cast away this week is the chair of the British Paralympic Association and Professor of

1:29.2

Sports and Exercise Medicine, Nick Webon.

1:32.2

A lifelong lover of sports, he's one of the world's leading experts in Paralympic Sports

...

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