I met Christy Brown at his home in Rathcoole in County Dublin when we went to interview him (apologies to the reporter with me – I can’t remember who it was).
We had spent an hour or more in the house when he suggested we go to the pub for a pint (I think in the Rathcoole Inn). Christy was in a wheelchair and wheelchair ramps were few and far between but, lo and behold, the pub had a long gently sloping concrete ramp, installed for Christy’s benefit he told us. Certainly, it was the first time I saw one in a pub.
Christy’s pint arrived with a wide straw and he studied it for a moment in anticipation as I wondered how he was going to drink it without the use of his arms. Suddenly, he launched his head at the drink on the table, grabbing the straw with his mouth in a smooth precise movement, obviously a practiced skill, then sucking deeply, he didn’t draw breath ’til there was less than an inch left in the glass and sat back up with a satisfied smile.
We were impressed, not only that he had managed to drink it without assistance, but with the quantity of his suck. I told him as much:
“Jaysus”, says I, “you made some hole in that!”
“Well, it’s like this”, he responded, “when it takes that much effort to get at it, you have to make the most of it!”