‘From Ruin to Recovery’ with Allistair MacSorley

In this session I will be talking with Allistair MacSorley around his journey through pre-hospital care as a paramedic and then a day in 2018 that changed his life forever and left him paralysed from the waist down. We will also be examining his tenacity, drive and attributes that separate him from the crowd. He is currently still working as a registered Paramedic and part of the maternity team within London Ambulance Service. He is also part of the Irish paracycling development squad in hand cycling. He is training for and focussed on the next hand cycling World Cup in May in Belgium, aiming towards ParaOylpmics Paris 2024 and then the LA games 2028. He has adapted and employed a coach from September 2021 which has fundamentally changed his training program and diet. The carbon fibre cycle bike is a £15,000 specialised bike with adaptations and enables Ali to compete at elite level.

In the conversation we discuss:

• The introduction to Alistair’s life growing up
• His father’s influence and motorbikes
• His training as a Paramedic
• What he took his training and facets of his career
• The career break and what he learned whilst away
• The incident and injuries sustained
• The recovery
• The adaptations to life
• His current role (LAS and cycling)

Ali's story can also be found here:

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/07/29/news/-flying-doctor-left-paralysed-after-motorcycle-crash-returns-to-circuit-a-year-later-to-complete-lap-1672238/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/49140461

Please enjoy this episode with a truly inspiring professional and friend.