Front, Sam Mayerus (Athlete) Tom Chambers (Host)
On a spring morning in 1981 Tom Chambers' life changed forever. A car
accident near Drogheda snapped the Newport man's spine and left him
paralysed from the chest down. This week he talks to Michael Gallagher
about his life and the joy he takes from living every day to the full.
By Michael Gallagher, Reporter for the Western People, (County Paper)
Tom Chambers loves to talk. He has a way of telling stories that brings
the past to life and the tale of his existence so far is one, which
generates a great sense of hope and determination.
Born in Rockfleet just outside Newport he grew up surrounded by seven
brothers, eight sisters and parents Mick and Maud. He enjoyed life,
going to school, doing the chores and playing games the way kids do. He
loved sport and was soon playing football with the local teams.
"I enjoyed playing football and in 1964 we had a great minor team in the
area. We were called Mulranny but we drew lads from the whole region
stretching from Ballycroy to Kilmeena. I was lucky enough to captain the
team and on one special evening in McHale Park we beat Ballina
Stephenites in the County league final. That was a famous team and we
had some fine footballers like Joe McAndrew, Stephen Conway and Christy
Loftus. I scored 1-9 that evening and it is a game I will never forget.
Later that year we won the West championship but lost the county
semi-final to a Jimmy Duggan-inspired Claremorris. I loved the games and
the excitement and will never forget those special days."
He spent happy times learning the painting trade from Sean Kelly and in
1964 when Burrishoole GAA team went to London on tour Tom was in the
party. He saw the abundance of work available in the English capital and
was soon back there looking for a start.
"I worked all over England from Birmingham to Ipswich and Bristol to
Norwich. I followed the work, the money was good and the craic was
mighty. I played some football around London with St. Jarlath's and St.
Pat's in Luton and enjoyed life. There were lots of lads from home over
there and when there was a big match on in Ireland like an All-Ireland
Final we all gathered to listen to it on the radio. We would tie the
radio and the aerial to a lamppost and gather around it listening in
silence. The locals didn't know what was happening and often called the
police who would come along and often listen to the game with us."
Tom enjoyed life in England but in the autumn of 1980 he returned to
Dublin where the building boom was just about to begin. He wasn't long
there when fate intervened and changed his life forever. On March 30^th
1981 the car he was driving hit a wall just outside Drogheda with
devastating consequences.
"I wasn't found for five hours after the accident and when they got to
the car I was trapped under a pile of stone from the wall. I could only
tell them my name and was then taken to a hospital in Drogheda before
being flown to the Central Remedial Clinic in DunLaoighre.
"That day back in Mayo my parents were going to Mass when they heard on
the radio that a man named Tom Chambers had been in a serious accident
near Drogheda but they never thought it was me as I was living in Dublin
at the time."
Soon they learned that it was indeed their son who had been injured in
the accident and life would never be the same again. In DunLaoighre Tom
was asking the nurses could he soon go home as there was a lot of
concrete being delivered that week but it wasn't long before he realised
that he was in serious trouble.
"I looked around me and saw some frightening sights. Fine people lying
there in beds unable to move a muscle and I knew that I had some major
problems but I also realised that I was very lucky. There was an Irish
rugby international there called Gus Barrett who had passed his final
exams in dentistry only days before his life was turned upside down and
I thanked God that I was as good as I was."
Months of physio and hard work were put in before Tom saw Rockfleet
again but in December he arrived home full of trepidation about what the
future held.
"I was very nervous wondering what would happen if something went wrong
but there was no need to worry, everything worked out fine."
Fundraising locally and in London and Cleveland meant that Tom could buy
a car and soon he was on the open road. He valued his independence and
later moved to a house of his own in nearby Newport. He settled into
life in West Mayo and could often be found driving a carload of friends
to dances all over the county. The man from Rockfleet wasn't going to
sit around complaining about the hand he had been dealt.
Then in October 1985 the local sergeant Tom Rochford, set him a
challenge. He believed that Chambers was capable of competing in the
Dublin City Marathon and told him he would support him all the way. Tom
took up the challenge and the rest is history.
He trained four or five hours every day. Rochford, Martin O' Malley,
Kevin McManamon and a local committee secured funding for a new lighter
wheelchair and after endless preparation and a few local half-marathons
Tom found himself on the starting line for the 1986 marathon.
"Bertie Ahern was the Lord Mayor of Dublin at the time sent us on our
way. I was going well at first until one of the front wheels came loose
on the chair but I pulled into a garage and borrowed a spanner, which
kept me going until I got to the service vehicle."
Soon he was back on course again and as he raced down the Malahide Road
a special Mayo lady shouted out her support.
"Rosaline Gallagher was they're urging me on and I got great courage
from that. She had done so much on the sporting scene worldwide as a
disabled athlete and had Olympic medals, I was honoured that she turned
out to wish me luck as she herself was also from Mayo."
The Newport man raced onwards and as he went up Westland Row a spectator
shouted that there was only a mile to go.
"For the first time in the race I thought about the distance I had
travelled and I put in a special effort to get to the finish because
there were a few people in Newport and surrounding areas who had doubted
my ability to finish."
Soon Tom had crossed the line and one of his life's' ambitions had been
achieved. He would complete another two marathons and numerous other
distances in the following years as his fame spread far and wide. The
man from Rockfleet became one of Newport's best-known residents.
These days Tom doesn't race anymore but he still keeps in touch with the
people he met on the athletics trail. He waits anxiously for the
opportunity to help another Mayo wheelchair athlete enter the racing
game. His head is filled with tips for aspiring racers and he knows
someday that another Mayo racer will scorch through the Dublin streets.
His days are filled with the IT lessons he gives in Mayo Tech and the
designs he makes for wheelchair accessible buildings. He is enjoying
life in Newport and is thankful for the hand life has dealt him.
"If I hadn't run into that wall I might be dead now, who knows? I have a
great life filled with wonderful people and remember it's only my legs
that are paralysed, not my brain."
The man who has packed more into his life than many others has a lot of
living to do. He is already planning his next project and the ones after
that. Tom Chambers is a unique man, one of Newport's finest.
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