Desert Island Discs

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

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Desert Island Discs: Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association

Professor Nick Webborn, doctor

Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association

Professor Nick Webborn, doctor, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association and Professor of Sports and Exercise Medicine, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

Professor Nick Webborn has chaired the British Paralympic Association since 2017. He is a world-leading expert on Paralympic sports medicine and the most widely-published author on the subject. He has attended 11 Paralympic and one Olympic Games. 

He was born in Swansea in 1956, trained as a doctor in London and joined the RAF as a junior medical officer. In 1981 he was playing in an RAF rugby match when a mistimed opposition tackle left him with a severe spinal injury. After many months of treatment and rehabilitation, which he now describes as 'long and tortuous,' he wanted to return to work in medicine, but found that there was a reluctance to employ a doctor with a disability. 

He worked as a GP and also pursued an interest in sports medicine, leading to research in this area and an academic role. When he saw the medical support available for Olympic athletes, he felt strongly that para-athletes deserved the same level of specialist help - especially as many also had to deal with underlying problems that their Olympic peers did not face. His pioneering research has made Paralympic sport safer for athletes, and has driven the development of sports medicine in areas such as rehabilitation. He also represented Great Britain in wheelchair tennis in 2005. 

Nick is Professor of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Brighton. 

DISC ONE: Heroes by David Bowie   
DISC TWO: Hallelujah, composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by London Musici Chamber Choir and London Musici Orchestra, conducted by Mark Stephenson  
DISC THREE: Jamaica Farewell by Nina and Frederik   
DISC FOUR: Will Ye Go Lassie Go by The Corries 
DISC FIVE: For Crying out Loud by Meat Loaf  
DISC SIX: This is Me by Keala Settle
DISC SEVEN: Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond  
DISC EIGHT: You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers
   
BOOK CHOICE:  The Complete Works of Charles Dickens
LUXURY ITEM: Nick’s adapted Segway, with a built-in espresso machine  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This is Me by Keala Settle   

Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Sarah Taylor

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Professor Nick Webborn, Chair of the British Paralympic Association

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