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How CARA helped Ludwig Guttmann, Founder of the Paralympics
The year 2012 will see the Paralympic Games return to their birthplace, which makes a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate their founder: Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a CARA grantee from 1939.
Ludwig Guttmann was a Jewish neurosurgeon born in Germany in 1899. When he and his family had to flee his native country in 1939 because of the growing threat from the Nazi regime, it was CARA (then called the 'Society for the Protection of Science and Learning') who supported Guttmann's emigration and enabled him to continue his medical research at the University of Oxford. In 1944, the British government asked Guttmann to start a specialised spinal injury centre for the expected casualties from World War II. He established the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the first place in the world to actively treat people with spinal cord injury.
At the time, the life expectancy of a spinal injured person was roughly 3 months, and there was no treatment. Ludwig Guttmann, endearingly known as 'Poppa', completely changed the common view of paraplegics as hopeless cases, dramatically increasing their life expectancy, helping them to regain independence and return to a meaningful life in the community. From the very beginning, sports activities were an essential part of the rehabilitation programme. The first competitive sports event was held in 1948, and in the following years, the annual Stoke Mandeville Games attracted more and more participants from all over the world. Eventually, the 'Paralympic Games' were adopted by the International Olympic Committee in 1984. 
In a cooperation with the Poppa Guttmann Trust, CARA is now in the process of organising events to try and use this wonderful testament as a way of drawing attention to the work of two worthy organizations: CARA's work of helping academic figures like Ludwig Guttmann and the work of the Poppa Guttmann Trust in continuation of Poppa's vision, mainly through the establishment of a permanent Arts Programme at the National Spinal Injury Centre (NSIC) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
The Poppa Guttmann Trust has commissioned a life-size bronze statue of Sir Ludwig, which will be unveiled in a celebratory event on
24th June 2012, Stoke Mandeville Stadium
The unveiling will be a nationally publicized event and will serve as a reunion of former and present NSIC staff and patients, celebrating Guttmann's inspiration and legacy.