Al-Hussein visits Ottobock for assessment

Swimmer Ibrahim Al-Hussein, a member of the Independent Paralympic Athletes (IPA) Team, had his first appointment with Ottobock on Sunday (4 September) at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Al-Hussein was assessed by the head of the technical team, Julian Napp, at the Ottobock service centre in the Athletes’ Village and will have a series of prosthetic fittings over the coming days.

It was the first time Al-Hussein has received the service from a specialist company after he lost his leg in a bombing and left Syria for Turkey, eventually settling in Greece where a doctor gave him his first prosthetic.

“I like the idea of it [having a new prosthetic] and everything is going well,” Al-Hussein said. “I like what I heard. Tomorrow we will have the first fitting so I hope for the best and then afterwards we will see how it will go and I hope it will be perfect.

“It’s so generous and nice of them to offer me this.”

Al-Hussein, who will compete in the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle S10 at Rio 2016, will use his new leg when he is not in the pool. His appointment on Sunday lasted just under one hour as the Ottobock technician talked at length to him about his needs, as they do with everyone who passes through their doors.

Located next to the dining hall in the Paralympic Village, the main technical service centre is open for all athletes who require adjustments, maintenance or repairs to their prosthetics, orthotics or wheelchairs during Rio 2016, which gets underway on 7 September. There are also smaller service centres in some competition venues.