Jörg Leonhardt - One for All

He jumps out of airplanes from dizzying heights. He dives into the depths of the open sea. He shakes hands with celebrities such as Michael Ballack or Dirk Nowitzki. Jörg Leonhardt really is a jack-of-all-trades despite of or maybe due to a life-threatening car accident which has made him sit in a wheelchair.

15/03/2006

A few years ago, the 40 year-old man founded a club to enable handicapped children to go in for rapid boat trips. REHACARE.de spoke with Jörg Leonhardt about the club, sports and his life.

REHACARE.de: In the year 2000 you founded the association Wings for handicapped. What was your motive for doing that?

Leonhardt: Back then I had a flying license and I tried to get permission to land in US-American territory in Germany. The persons responsible for that told me, that they would allow aero clubs to do so, but not individuals. That's why I founded Wings for handicapped together with some friends of mine.

Then in 2002, when I found out that the wheelchair basketball European Junior Championship would not be arranged, we changed our constitution and then hosted this tournament in Frankfurt. I have been a wheelchair basketball player in the German team. Therefore I know how important it is for young people to be challenged on an international basis.

REHACARE.de: Who is member of your club?

Leonhardt: They are friends of mine. In total, the club has got 46 members. We keep the number small, so that we can better achieve our aims. Otherwise, the administration work would get too much.

REHACARE.de: How are the projects and the club itself financed?

Leonhardt: It is financed by nothing else but donations. We receive a lot of donations-in-kind. For example, the boat manufacturer offered a deduction on the boat of 50 % to us, and an outboard engine with 250 PS we received for free.

REHACARE.de: With the boat ‘Hoppetosse' you have been doing boat trips with disabled children for the last two years now. What gave you the idea for these trips?

Leonhardt: When I stopped playing basketball in spring-time 2003 I met Andreas, a friend of mine, at a café in Berlin. We had the idea, that in a project of integration, disabled and non-disabled people sitting in one boat should have fun together. With this project, we wanted to take away the people's fear of dealing with disabled people. I can only do hang-gliding or flying together with one other person. What happens if this person gets afraid while we are doing this? Then I can do nothing. On boat trips I can slow down the speed. Also the assistant can intensively take care of the persons. That is how the idea about ‘Hoppetosse' was born.

REHACARE.de: Where have you already been with this boat?

Leonhardt: We have been in Düsseldorf and Berlin. I also did a boat trip to England. This year, we are planning a trip to Stockholm, Istanbul or Vienna. The ‘Hoppetosse' is not supposed to give me personal satisfaction. I really enjoy doing boat trips with these kids because they show their emotions straight away. They are laughing a lot in the back of the boat, or maybe are a little afraid or worried in the beginning. Afterwards they are really proud and get out of the boat with the feeling of having participated in something exciting.

REHACARE.deDo you have other project plans for the future?

Leonhardt: I don't know yet. In 2002 I didn't know, that I will host a European Junior championship. The only thing I did before, was to host a birthday party for a child. I really had absolutely no experience in things like that. The Hoppetosse project takes up a lot of time. Of course, one could buy six or seven boats and establish them nationwide. But then I would lose control about the whole thing and the power of deciding.

REHACARE.de:You personally know a lot of celebrities. How did you make the contacts to Dirk Nowitzki or Michael Ballack for example?

Leonhardt: As I played wheelchair basketball myself, my ambition was to play in the same hall with our national team for disabled as the normal basketball national team. When I told Dirk about my project, he signed some of his shoes which we sold in an auction.

REHACARE.de: You do skydiving, you do hang gliding and you go diving. What is it that excites you so much about these extreme sports?

Leonhardt: Before I had my accident, I played handball. After the accident I joined the wheelchair basketball national team. Additionally I wanted to try out some different types of sports. That's why I participated in a tandem parachute jumping. Then I started to do hang gliding. Then I received the license to fly sports airplanes. Afterwards I got my diving license and the boating license. I just wanted to know if it works out as a disabled person. It was after an adrenalin kick, I just wanted to know if it is possible.

REHACARE.de: What is your personal goal? Has it changed because of the accident?

REHACARE.de: I don't have such a big goal. I don't know where I will be in the future. It's not that I am completely aimless. But I am not the kind of person that builds up his or her own lifework and says: That's what I want to reach. But I also do not just live day by day. My life is kind of structured. But I don't know what I will be doing in two years time.

Leonhardt: What would be your advice for other handicapped people?

REHACARE.de: If one wants to try out something new, go for it. And if one suffers a setback in the beginning, don't give up and say things like: Fortunately, it did not work out. Or something like, I don't have any abilities no more. You better should tuck up. If you really want to reach something, you will make it. It is all about the aim itself, and not about the way to reach the aim. I realized that if a door gets shut, sometimes another door opens up somewhere else that is much more attractive.

REHACARE.de:What would be your advice to non-disabled people?

Leonhardt: They should regard a handicapped person as normal as possible. They should just offer help, not force on assistance. Don't just push him or her to the other side of the road. Who knows if he or she wanted to get there. You should simply ask: may I help you. So that everything is just a normal living together in this world.

REHACARE.de

- For more information about the club at: www.w4h.org