Paralympian sailor and GP Austin O’Carroll works to help the homeless
It’s four hours before Paralympian sailor Austin O’Carroll returns to the water in Rio. His first outing as part of the Irish team the previous day didn’t go too well but O’Carroll isn’t downhearted. “It was a bad day. Today’s a new day, a new beginning,” he says, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself as much as me.
O’Carroll’s positive attitude pervades all areas of his life. His Paralympic adventure is a break of sorts from the hectic pace of his professional life as a GP in Dublin’s north inner city. Born with foreshortened limbs because of the effects of Thalidomide, the 54-year-old Dubliner and father-of-two needed all his determination when it came to pursuing a career in medicine, although he was helped along the way by no less than two future presidents of Ireland.
