John McFall : premier parastronaute de l'ESA

Once upon a time, a 19-year-old man was travelling to Bangkok on a motorbike, after having lost control in a corner, and was amputated his right leg. And he said, I quote, « It's the most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me in my life. » Well, he didn't say it right away, but he did. Today, I'm going to talk to you about John McFaul, the very first astronaut with a physical disability hired by the European Space Agency. John was born in 1981 in Frimley, in the south of England. A small town in the southeast of London, that doesn't break three legs of a duck, and has no particular story. Oh yes, according to Wikipedia, Etel Smith was born there, in 1858. I don't know who he is. John's father is a paratrooper in the British army, and he's the one who gives him the taste of adventure. John listens to all these stories carefully, and quickly, a dream is born at the bottom of his little heart. To join, him too, the British army. But as you know, in the year 2000, things go wrong, due to the fact that he missed his turn. He tries to catch up with his right leg, but obviously it doesn't work, because at the Bangkok hospital, they thought it was good to amputate it below the knee. When he wakes up, Thai doctors tell him something like, « Oula brother, you were lucky, you had a 40% chance of survival. On the other hand, we had to take a leg off. » After several months of learning to walk again, and to adapt to this new physical condition, John learns to run again, to reconnect with one of his great passions, the canaroplasticophilia. No, not at all, it's the one we knew. And that's when we see that John has a real winner's mind. He never said to himself, « My God, but with one leg less, there are a lot of things I can't do anymore, like, for example, jumping on one foot. » No, he rather said to himself, « How far can I go? » Well, know that he went to the Beijing Olympics in 2009. When I say that he went to the Beijing Olympics, I don't mean that he went to Beijing, he sat in the bleachers and that's it. No, he went to the Beijing Olympics to win a bronze medal at 100 meters. After this bronze medal at the Olympics, which, by the way, is not his only medal, he had an incredible career in handisport, he retired in 2009, and said to himself, « Hey, what if I became a doctor? » So when he takes turns, he doesn't pretend. At the age of 28, John starts studying medicine, and in 2014, he receives his medicine and surgery diploma in Cardiff, in Wales. Until 2022, nothing very exciting. Just a career in orthopaedic traumatology. At the same time, he is involved in a program to support Paralympic athletes in the future. And in 2012, he also worked at the London Paralympic Games. In short, on a normal Monday. During the last selection of astronauts in 2021, the European Space Agency has, for the first time, opened a parallel selection for candidates with a physical disability. To be eligible, you had to have a disability at the level of the lower limbs, a congenital malformation or an amputation. To have an asymmetry of the legs or measure less than 1.30m. On the other hand, the intellectual and psychological skills required remained the same as for other astronauts. So, John said to himself, « Well, that's good, I was a bit bored in my life after doing a sabbatical year to travel, an amputation of the leg, a sports career, a surgery career, a marriage and three children, because yes, he also has a wife and three children. And what if I became an astronaut? » Well, guess what? He became an astronaut. I said it earlier at the same time. The first parastronaut in the history of space exploration. Yes, parastronaut. A word created for the occasion. John McFaul was 41 years old when he was chosen among the 22,500 candidates. He joined the promotion of ESA astronauts in 2022. You may be wondering why the European Space Agency was looking for an astronaut with a physical disability. Well, first of all, for inclusivity, but also to carry out real studies on whether we can send people with a disability into space, and if so, under what conditions. It is true that we could say to ourselves, « Why can't we send a guy with a random number of legs into space? » All you have to do is install a PMR access in the shuttle, turn on the engines and hop! Direction the ISS. Everyone is housed at the same school up there, right? Since there is no gravity in the ISS anyway, no need to walk. Maybe it's the other astronauts who have too many legs, after all. We don't know what it's like to send people with a disability into space. Because we've never tried. Astronauts don't use their legs in the same way in space as on Earth. We don't even know if the amputated, the malformed or the small ones will be disadvantaged or not. Will John need his prosthesis in the ISS? Will the absence of gravity have a different effect on his amputated limb? We don't know. So, ESA is going to look for it. And it's going to look for a little while because it is not at all planned to send John into space in the short term. Nothing is planned before at least 2026. If that's the case, by then, McFaul will be tired and will have changed his career again to become, I don't know, me... No, it's true, what will he be able to do? There is no job left to do. John McFaul has a message to inspire you all. A bunch of losers sitting in front of your screens. Space is now accessible to everyone, even to people with a disability. So, move your ass. That's it, it was one of the most motivating messages. I may have arranged the end with my sauce. His motorcycle accident literally changed his life. He said in an interview, « It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. It gave me concentration, motivation. Every day is a new challenge. I still have a list of goals and aspirations that didn't change after my accident. It just changed direction. » Conclusion. Watch out for the next turn. You could become an astronaut. Thank you all for watching this portrait video on John McFaul. If you want to see more, there are others. Watch them. If you like this kind of format, we've done others that you can go see, notably one on Hubert Reeves. And if you want to support Superama, you can do it via Tipeee or Eloasso. And thank you to all the people who already support us on these platforms. It helps us a lot. Everyone is lodged at the same school where... Everyone is... Everyone is lodged at the same school where... No? Everyone... I didn't hear you. She answers me in the middle of the shooting. Incredible. It was so well done.