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Disabled athlete competition wheelchair
1970

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Sport for athletes with disabilities has existed for more than 100 years. Sports clubs for the deaf were already in existence in Berlin in 1888.

Sport for physically disabled persons was introduced after World War II due to the large number of injured service men and women and civilians. While researching new methods to minimize the consequences of immobility, doctors revived the idea of sport as a way of treatment and rehabilitation.

In 1944 Dr. Ludwig Guttmann opened a spinal injury center at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. A new approach introduced sport as a paramount part of the total rehabilitation of persons with a disability. Rehabilitation sport quickly evolved to recreational sport and the next step of competitive sport was only a few years away.

On July 28, 1948, the Stoke Mandeville Games were founded and the first competition for wheelchair athletes was organized. These games eventually evolved into the Paralympics, a word derived from the Greek preposition "para" (meaning beside or along) and the word "Olympics"

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John 'Jake' Edward Donahue
1970

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John "Jake" Edward Donahue
St. Stephen proudly claims native son, John Edward Donahue, as one of the country's best wheelchair athletes. Born in 1940, Jake's early years were typical of a small town youth: he went to school, loved horses and spent hours around a local stable, and enjoyed a game of baseball. He attended school in Milltown and went on to complete his formal education at the Lady Dunn Trade School (now one of a series of New Brunswick Community Colleges) in nearby St. Andrews, NB. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces where he took up boxing and participated in a number of sports.

At age 21, a diving accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. While a patient at the DVA Hospital in Saint John, NB, Jake was introduced to disabled sports but found he had first to deal with the changes in every aspect of his life. "It's really tough though, to be a big strong guy of 20 or 21 and then to come out of the hospital at 97 pounds. At first I didn't think I could do anything." (J. Donahue from an article appearing in the Telegraph-Journal).

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worn during Halifax Pan American Games
1970

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The support of his wife, Theresa, encouraged Jake to became involved in wheelchair sports. He worked for seven years to develop his upper body to a point where he could compete. Jake entered his first games, a provincial event in Fredericton, in 1970. The early events gave him competition experience and allowed him to continue developing his physique until he felt that he was throwing well. Jake then set his sights on national events.

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Jake with discus
1970

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In 1973 Jake entered the Canadian Wheelchair Championships, and took a gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the event. So began a competitive career, which would span fifteen years, and garner 34 medals - six gold, sixteen silver and twelve bronze, in Canadian Competitions.

On the international scene, Jake represented Canada at Pan American Wheelchair Games in 1974, 1975, 1982 and 1986. He would capture a total of three silver and five bronze medals at these events.

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New Brunswick Wheelchair Team crest
1970

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In 1976, at Toronto's World Olympic Games for the Physically Disabled, Jake took a bronze medal and repeated the placing at the 1980 World Olympic Games, which were staged in Holland. Jake improved his performance at these Games, four years later, when he took a silver and a bronze medal. The 1984 silver medal was the result of Jake pushing the Canadian shot putt record from 5.95 to 6.14 meters. Jake, himself, had established the former record in 1981 but refused to rest on his laurels, knowing that "having the Canadian Record doesn't earn you qualification. There's no freebies to getting on them [national teams] and it isn't a two-month commitment, it takes year-round training." (J. Donahue from an article appearing in the Telegraph-Journal).

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Jake with medal
1970

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Jake's hometown celebrated this hero's achievements, adding civic recognition to his growing collection of medals. In 1976, Jake was named St. Stephen's Athlete of the Year. In 1979, Jake was the recipient of, both, the "William Steen Greenough Memorial Award", presented for outstanding contributions to sport in St. Stephen and the St. Croix Courier's "Athlete of the Year Award". In 1980, Jake would again be named the Courier's Athlete of the Year. Donahue's accomplishments were noticed, and lauded, outside the border community as well. In 1976, he was presented with New Brunswick's Merit Award and in 1978, he was honoured with the province's Outstanding Athlete Award. In the same year, the Canadian Wheelchair Sport Association named him the Most Improved Athlete for 1978.

Throughout his athletic career, and his demanding training regimen, Donahue was active in St. Stephen's community life. He coached mentally challenged students at the St. Stephen CAMR School for the Special Olympics from 1971 to 1973. Prior to amalgamation with St. Stephen, Jake was a member Milltown's Town Council for six years. He was coach of the Milltown Bantam Baseball teams for six years and, for three years, coached the Milltown Elementary softball team.

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Theresa and Jake Donahue beside portrait at 1991 induction event
June, 1991

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Jake retired from competition in 1988. St. Stephen held a banquet in his honour and congratulatory messages and letters were received from, among others, Premier Frank McKenna and Senator Ted Kennedy. Senator Kennedy wrote: "I salute you as a world competitor, as a community leader, and as an inspiration to challenged youth - and to us all. Your success in life and living is dramatic proof that disabled doesn't mean unable. We thank you for sharing your most precious gift - your vitality and spirit - with all of us." Friends and family, far and near, came to celebrate Jake's career and the contributions he had made to sport and community life.

In 1991, Jake was elected to the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame. At the induction event Donahue said that "it is an honour to be associated with Hall of Famers like "Squirrely" Earl Ross, George Purcell, Howard Clark (all members of St. Stephen - Milltown's Baseball Team), Dr. Bill Greenough. . . and Gordon Coffey."