Bone in space

Video blog with John McFall, T&O Orthopaedic Registrar and ESA Astronaut Reserve

John McFall became an amputee following a motorcycle accident in 2000 and following that obtained a BSc and MSc in Sports and Exercise Science in South Wales, with a particular interest in biomechanics and gait analysis.

He became a professional track and field athlete in 2005, going on to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a Paralympic sprinter and competed at the Paralympic Games in Beijing 2008.

He then studied medicine, graduating from Cardiff University in 2014 and then completed Core Surgical Training covering General Surgery, Urology and Trauma and Orthopaedics in the Wessex deanery. In 2018 John successfully secured a place on the UK’s national Trauma & Orthopaedic Specialist Registrar training programme.

You can read more on John’s story in our June 2022 JTO in the article ‘Keeping up with the active amputee’ which you can read here.

In November 2022, John was selected as a member of the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut reserve and to take part in ESA’s feasibility study ‘Fly!’ to improve our understanding of, and overcome, the barriers space flight presents for astronauts with a physical disability. 

To conclude our Future Orthopaedics season theme, John has kindly given us a flavour of ‘Bone in Space!’ in this video blog on space and bone mineral density. John highlights how research taking place on the International Space Station (ISS) is helping to find a solution to prevent bone loss in astronauts that could also benefit people back on earth. Watch his video blog below.

John McFall will be a Guest Lecturer at the 2024 BOA Annual Congress where he will deliver the Howard Steel Lecture.