Volunteering is a helping hand that works both ways

AFTER he broke his neck falling down the stairs at home 20 years ago, doctors feared Tony Hassett would never walk again. But the 59-year-old Nenagh-based sports coach defied medical opinion and is not only walking but is also a basketball coach.

Since 1999, Hassett has been volunteering with the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA).

He set up a sports club in Nenagh and from there, he started training a weekly basketball group of wheelchair users. In recognition of his voluntary work, Hassett was recently awarded the inaugural IWA’s Volunteer of the Year Award. He has also been nominated for the Volunteer Ireland Awards which aim to highlight the work of volunteers around the country.

Hassett left his job with North Tipperary County Council five years ago on health grounds. He then spent two years training with the National Learning Network in Limerick and got a job as a programme facilitator with Rehab Care in Nenagh. “But unfortunately, funding ran out and I was let go. I really enjoyed the three years I spent there. It was very positive work. I had a great relationship with the service users, who had intellectual disabilities.”

When he was approached to train the basketball players, he says he was delighted to do it. “I was nearly a wheelchair user myself. It’s nice to be able to give something back. I get on well with the basketball players. We have great fun; they also train very hard.”

Hassett trains between 15 and 20 people, men and women, mostly in their 20s and early 30s, at the Nenagh Sports Arena every Wednesday night. “There’s a group from North Tipperary and also a group from Limerick. We’ve played basketball tournaments at the IWA headquarters in Dublin. We’ve been in various venues around the country. Our standard is very good and the players are improving all the time. They’re divided into different groups depending on their level of play. Seven or eight of them are at a very high standard.”

Playing basketball from a wheelchair is not difficult, says Hassett. “They all have full use of their wheelchairs and we’re in the process of getting sports wheelchairs for them. These are far more mobile than ordinary wheelchairs.”

Tony Hassett coaching basketball for wheelchair users in Nenagh.Pic: Fergal Shanahan

Hassett says anyone who has the use of their arms can play basketball. “There’s a very high standard of wheelchair-using basketball players in the Paralympics. The nets are at the normal height. We don’t lower them; there’s no need.”

The players take basketball seriously. “Often times, we’d have a game against another team. The basketball players would nearly kill one another — but in a nice way. They’re very competitive but they’re all great pals as well.”

Hassett would love three or four weekly sessions of training the basketball players but it’s not feasible because of financial constraints. He adds that the training sessions are also social outings.

Because he was fit when his accident happened, Hassett believes it helped his recovery. “Sport has been my passion all my life. At the time of the accident, I coached athletes at Nenagh Olympic Athletic Club. I was a middle distance coach for many years. I’m also involved in teaching aqua jogging.”

With two vertebrae broken, Hassett spent six months at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire. “For the first three months, I wasn’t doing anything apart from lying on a bed in traction. Then I got physiotherapy every day.”

After seeing the initial x-ray, a doctor told Hassett’s wife he wouldn’t walk again. “I was never told that. I was of the opinion that I was going to walk. The intense physiotherapy wasn’t a problem for me. I knew if I worked hard, I would probably do alright.”

At the Mater Hospital, Hassett underwent a spinal fusion. “Taking a piece of bone from my hip, my two vertebrae were fused together. Now, I don’t have a great range of movement in my neck. It’s limited but I’m active and very healthy. My hands are weak because they’re connected to the vertebrae I broke. But that’s not much to complain about in the greater scheme of things. I walk, cycle and go to the pool. I’m not as good as I was but I’m as good as I’m ever going to be.”

Hassett says there is “great value” in doing voluntary work. “There’s more to life than money. It gives me a sense of achievement and it’s great to know that others are benefiting from my input.”

The closing date for nominations for the Volunteer Ireland Awards is Oct 25. www.volunteer.ie.