Athletic therapist Jessica Salt shows off her Olympic mittens. Salt worked behind the lines during the 2010 Paralympics as a physical therapist for sledge hockey players.

Durham College athletic therapist Jessica Salt has returned from the 2010 Vancouver Paralympics, and despite long hours and plenty of paperwork she loved her time in British Columbia.

“It was amazing,” said Salt. “It was really fun, the atmosphere was great. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’d do it again for sure.”

Salt served as a therapist for the men on the eight sledge hockey teams. Sledge hockey, designed with disabilities from the waist down in mind, has players vying for goals while manoeuvring on sledges with two shortened hockey sticks affixed with spikes to help them grip the ice.

Despite the differences, however, Salt found sledge hockey no less rigorous than hockey.

“These guys are extremely tough,” she said. “They’re amazing athletes. I could not get over their core abdominal strength. Able bodied or not, the athletes are the same. There’s absolutely no difference in the level of ability in Paralympians compared to Olympians.”

Salt was part of a team of six physicians and six therapists in addition to each team’s own medical staff, to support the teams if they needed help with treatment and emergency response.

And, for the most part, everything ran smoothly. “We had a couple of fractures of hands and arms, some shoulder injuries and some lacerations that required stitches, but from an emergency standpoint it was very good.”

Though she’s tended to Paralympians, Salt sees no difference in their level of determination as compared to the male and female athletes of Durham College.

“This is a place where we see athletes who want to get better and excel at their support,” said Salt. “It’s a great population to work with in general. Athletes want to get better whether they’re an Olympian, a Paralympian or a varsity athlete at the college level – the motivation is the same.”