​​​If you had told him 16 years ago that he would make a name for himself in the Paralympian sphere, Professor Wayne Derman would have laughed outright. In fact, when he was told in 2008 that he would be going to Beijing to work with the South African paralympic team, his first thought was, “this is not what I signed up for". It would mean a significant shift in gear after serving as the chief medical officer for the SA Olympic team in Sydney in 2000 and again in Athens in 2004.

But with a few weeks to go until the Paris 2024 Paralympics, sitting in his sun-bathed office at the Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine​ on SU's Tygerberg campus, Derman looks back on the offer as a catalyst for immense personal growth. “I learned through the richness of seeing how people deal with various changes in their life circumstances. There was a lot of personal growth in my involvement with the Paralympic team."

Derman has a long association with the Paralympics, serving first as the SA team's chief medical officer in 2012 and then later, on an international level, with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) where he is Chair of the Medical Committee. He is now heading to Paris to work with the local organising committee's (LOC) medical staff, and to trouble shoot any medical issues that arise at all 549 events for the 22 sports and 23 disciplines that will feature over 11 days from 29 August 2024. Each venue at the Games has its own medical team and Derman will work with the LOC to oversee these. Derman will also be involved in injury and illness surveillance and research for all events at the games.

Injury surveillance

Using a system designed by Derman and colleagues in London in 2012, doctors from participating teams will input injuries and illnesses sustained each day. This dashboard will provide vital information about higher risk sports, where additional support services should be allocated and whether rule changes should be introduced to make an event safer.

Injury is an inevitable aspect of all sports, but more so for differently abled athletes. explains Derman. Blind football, as an example, has been flagged as one of the more dangerous events at the Paralympics. “Can you imagine playing football on a pitch where the athletes are totally blind?" Although the ball does have a bell in it, the chances of something going wrong and players crashing heads at speed often results in concussion, he adds. Track and field events are also high-risk activities for disabled athletes.

The level of risk also varies depending on the season. In the Winter Paralympic setting, skiing is an example of a sport that can be particularly dangerous. Derman says small adjustments, such as starting events earlier when the snow is still firm or altering the width of the ski ramps to make turns easier, go a long way to mitigating some of the dangers. Again, being able to track these incidences with the injury surveillance dashboard improves the athletes' safety. Derman adds that elevated temperatures in Europe in summer may be a critical factor for athletes in Paris, and heat mitigation strategies will be in place.

In addition to injuries, Paralympic athletes are more prone to certain illnesses, particularly respiratory tract infections. Other medical challenges include urinary tract infections for athletes using catheters and skin conditions for amputees or those with insensate areas.

Career highlights

With only a few weeks to go until the Games, Derman says serving as the IPC Medical Director will be a “pinnacle" in a career that has been punctuated by many “very, very special moments" – from troubleshooting Shuttleworth's space trip in Russia to working with top local athletes such as Natalie du Toit, Ilse Hayes, Charl du Toit and Hilton Langenhoven.

Derman speaks fondly of his work with South Africa's first astronaut, Shuttleworth, describing it as “the most extraordinary set of circumstances I have ever dealt with." He recalls how he was invited in 2002, out of the blue, to meet for a coffee with the world-renowned tech entrepreneur. “He phoned me from Moscow and said he was looking for a doctor who would work under difficult circumstances in a foreign place." Shuttleworth explained that it was Derman's experience with Olympic athletes that made him the ideal man for the job.

Derman's initial response was that it was a prank call. Shuttleworth quickly convinced Derman that he was the real deal, and that he needed a medical expert to join the team in Moscow who could explain the tests being performed on him in preparation for the space voyage, monitor him in space and oversee his rehabilitation after return to Earth

Derman adds: “Being a pioneer in the exciting new field of Sports & Exercise Medicine has taken me all over the world, from remote areas of Southeast Asia to the Hawaii Iron man and have worked on all continents. I have just been very blessed and fortunate to just have seen the world in this career."

Throughout it all, he says he has learned about the medical complexities in athletes functioning at the highest level, the ability of differently abled athletes to overcome the odds to perform at their best, and, he has developed a deeper understanding of himself and “how life can change in a moment". 

​Photo: Stefan Els