There is much to learn about marketing, especially when starting a private practice. All of a sudden, your actual training has to be set aside, while you learn about a different career entirely. Sometimes, getting the word out seems relatively easy. Let’s face it, everyone knows what a doctor does. Everyone knows when to call in a plumber or a carpenter. Why did I have to choose a profession that is not well understood? Why did it have to be such a vast profession that most people I meet have to insist they know the profession better than I do? All this would become clear when faced with the question of a certain dedication.
It’s such a strange experience to have lay people try to prove that what I do is not the profession that I put time and effort in to study! And with all this frustration, why did it have to be such an amazing profession that try as I might to give it up, it’s very hard to actually do so?!
You see, my profession is all about life! We are not supposed to give up on life! So, even if I get upset, or I am not actively treating, I cannot help but be an occupational therapist.
What can be done about the Lack of Knowledge of Occupational Therapy?
The question is, what can I do about this lack of knowledge of occupational therapy? Well, some clients gave me the answer when requesting that I write a book: “You have to help other parents to know what occupational therapy can do to help their child!” they told me.
So I wrote the book… and then came the challenge of getting it published! After sending my manuscript to one too many publishers, the book was shelved. How many times must one be rejected?!
Time passed and my practice underwent change. Finally, I decided to revisit the book. I read and re-read the manuscript. I altered some details and did some re-writing. Slowly a new path began to form.
This book needs a dedication!
I sent a rough draft to my OT mentor for her input. “This book needs a dedication,” was her first response. Little did I know, but it was that dedication that would change everything!
There were several options to choose from. However, one person stood out above the others. My grandfather had a major role to play in my becoming an occupational therapist. Yes, the book would be dedicated to him.
I did a little research about how to word a dedication. As I thought about it, I decided to add some words about my grandfather. Why not give him a page instead of just a few words?
A new direction begins
Well, in amongst that description, a title jumped out and begged for more explanation. Having already sprinkled the book with tidbits of information as to how my grandfather had used his profession, of civil engineering, to assist the disabled, I began a new chapter. This chapter is entitled “Sport and Games”.
I began to delve further into the centre that my grandfather was influential in starting. I was interested to find out if I could learn anything about what took place behind the scenes. Perhaps I would find out more about my grandfather’s connection to occupational therapy.
Discovering a connection between my grandfather and Sir Ludwig Guttman
Of course, I knew that my grandfather was a keen golfer. I also knew that he played golf for his back. It was time to revisit my grandfather’s memoirs to refresh my memory as to how he came to play golf, out of all the sports available. As another resource, I took down a book from my shelf – “Sports for the Disabled” by Sir Ludwig Guttman.
I remembered that my grandfather was well acquainted with Sir Ludwig. It would be very interesting to find out more about this connection
Realizing the need for a certain missing album
As I began my research, I discovered the need for a certain album. A rather large, blue album all about one Madam Irene Skorupska. Oh, why had that album disappeared? It was in one my many moves that the album, along with some other items, somehow vanished. Which move had it been? Actually the knowledge of when the album got lost would be of no help at all! I began to become a detective, formulating questions and trying to find answers. Answers that lay in lost albums and with dead and buried people.
Fortunately, we have the Internet. Would I be able to find out more about Sir Ludwig Guttman, Madam Irene Skorpuska, and their work with my grandfather? For Sir Ludwig, I did indeed find something! Madam Skorupska was not so easy. I could not find anything about her. What was I looking for? Was there any other phrase I could use that might bring up something of interest? This challenge made my search more meaningful.
Madam Skorupska and her archery
Madam Skorupska and her archery. Why had I not paid more attention to that album? My grandfather had given it to me, there must be a reason why he had done so. I knew it contained information about her achievements. There were photographs and all kinds of clippings related to her work with the disabled population through archery. Perhaps, the Protea Archery Club where I had participated in a competition would have some answers…
Soon I was enjoying a fascinating Skype chat with Alfredo Joao-Filipe Lobo das Neves, the chairman of Western Province Archery in Cape Town. Yes, Alfredo did know Madam Skorupska and had some documentation in the Archery Clubs’ archives!
I was interested to hear about any project or work that my grandfather had completed together with Madam Skorupska and hopefully with Sir Ludwig Guttman too. I did discover some answers to my questions. But, I learned another surprising connection. Something I had not known previously.
Discovering a special Trio
Here was a trio who had each escaped Nazi Europe from different parts of Europe and at different times. Each of them had united through their work to improve the quality of life for the disabled population.
My grandfather had signed up to join the South African Army as soon as he heard of what was taking place in Europe. I knew that he had used his skills as a qualified civil engineer and that he was stationed in Italy and North Africa. Now I discovered that since he was such a skilled engineer, he was seconded to the British army. I also discovered that although he had signed up as a sapper, he became an officer.
During a battle in Italy, my grandfather was thrown from his jeep that had overturned in the pouring rain, narrowly missing my grandfather. It was a miracle he escaped alive and even more so that he ever walked again. Defying all odds, his back was strapped and he returned to duty. The pain from that injury remained throughout my grandfather’s life.
After his return to Cape Town, he began to explore assisting those less fortunate than he had been. He was living an active life, despite excruciating pain. At the end of a certain meeting at St Giles, where my grandfather became chairman and later Honorary Life President, my grandfather delayed leaving. He did not want others to witness how slowly he rose from his chair due to the pain from sitting for a length of time. The fact, however, did not escape the sharp observation of Professor Lewer Allen, head of orthopaedics at the University of Cape Town at the time. Professor Lewer Allen had two recommendations for my grandfather. One was to play golf; the other was for my grandfather to visit Sir Ludwig Guttman at Stoke Mandeville.
My grandfather did both. Out of the meeting, a friendship developed that went beyond the scope of assisting my grandfather with his physical injury from the war.
As time progressed they did liaise together regarding sport for the disabled in South Africa. Sir Ludwig would also stay as a guest in my grandparents’ home when he visited South Africa. This part I already knew. However, a detail I had somehow missed was impressive…
Sir Ludwig had been a neurosurgeon in Germany prior to WWII. As events began to unfold, Dr Guttman had the foresight to escape Nazi Germany together with his family to the United Kingdom in 1939. In London, he became the head of the Spinal-Cord-Injury Unit at Stoke Mandeville. His revolutionary approach to working with spinal cord injuries drastically altered healthcare in this area of medicine. In addition, it lead to the start of the paraplegic games. The paraplegic games became the equivalent of the Olympic games. Dr Guttman was knighted for his war efforts, thus becoming Sir Dr Ludwig Guttman.
Meanwhile, Madam Skorupska, as she was affectionately known in South Africa, grew up in Poland. Aside from her profession, she was an expert archer of world-class standards. In 1938, Madam Skorupska left Poland. She had an interesting journey through several countries until reaching what was known as Southern Rhodesia at the time, (now Zimbabwe) and finally travelling down to Cape Town in South Africa.
In Cape Town, she worked as a nurse in Eaton Convalescent Home before transferring to work in the physiotherapy department of Princess Alice Hospital. At Princess Alice, she began using her archery with her patients, therapeutically. Going beyond what was required of her to teach them appropriate technique too. Her dedication to her patients resulted in the start of the Protea Archery Club where she introduced archery for the disabled. My grandfather invited her to train some of the disabled at St Giles Association for the Disabled. As part of initiating this service at St Giles, Madam Skorupska took time from a trip overseas to purchase suitable bows and equipment. She also visited Stoke Mandeville, where she had trained previously, under Sir Ludwig.
This to me was intriguing. Here were three individuals, each with an interest and skill in archery. Yes, my grandfather had also been involved in archery in his younger years, prior to WWII.
Escaping tragedy leads positive change
Each had escaped the horrors of Nazi Europe. Now, they were combining their skills and experiences to ensure that those who had become disabled would have the opportunity to enjoy quality of life. They recognized the importance of being actively involved in a healthy game such as archery. They recognized the importance of social interaction and of taking ones sport to another level. This meant that participating in archery would not be purely for enjoyment but to master a level of skill good enough to participate in competitions. And so, the disabled population of South Africa were also able to enter into the paraplegic games.
Through my interview with Alfredo, I had the privilege of seeing the oldest passport of Madam Skorupska. The passport is dated 1928. In it is a beautiful photograph of a younger woman, much different to the face I had seen in her later years.
Though my book was focused on occupational therapy, another message was coming to light. Here were three experienced professionals who dedicated their lives to uplifting the quality of life for others and particularly for a group of people who would have been discriminated against in Nazi Europe. All three had escaped Nazi Europe and in various different ways had witnessed the tragedy of war. I thought of how close each of them had come to being swallowed up in the darkness of WWII. I thought about how much light their lives brought, both individually and together.
Suddenly, I fell silent. Suddenly a reality began to formulate.
Firstly, this information formed an important backdrop to the development of occupational therapy post WWII. Now came a more sobering thought. The vast numbers of those who perished in WWII are mostly too large to comprehend. We hear of the torture. We hear of the pain and suffering. We hear of the millions who lost their lives. Seldom do we stop and think what a loss those lives mean to the world. It is hard to quantify what could have been.
No-one can predict whether a person will use their life for good or for the opposite. However, if these three are anything to go by, then one can begin to get a glimpse as to what we have lost. The loss of good that could have come into being in the world. How futile are wars and murder?
I hope that the lives of my grandfather, Professor Vincent Louis Granger, together with Sir Ludwig Guttman and Madam Skorupska can inspire the reader to value life. Not just life in general but the quality of life for all.
This post is prepared for you by
Shoshanah Shear
Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator,
certified infant massage instructor, freelance
writer, author of “Healing Your Life Through
Activity – An Occupational Therapist’s Story” and co-author of “Tuvia Finds His Freedom“.