Dr Whang Youn Dai (born 12 December 1938) is a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n physician known for her work on the welfare of people with disabilities and her advocacy of sports for those with disabilities. The

Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award The Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award is named after South Korean Dr. Whang Youn Dai, who contracted polio at the age of three. She devoted her life to the development of paralympic sport in Korea and around the world. At the 1988 Paralympic Summe ...

is named in recognition of her contributions to

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

sport.

Early life and education

Dr Whang was born on 12 December 1938 in Seoul, Korea. At the age of three she contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

which greatly impaired her right leg. Following rehabilitation and surgical treatments, she was able to stand by the age of seven however, she continued to have a limp. As a result she faced some hardships in her education, including being rejected from admission into an elementary school at the age of 8. Despite this, she was able to successfully complete her elementary and secondary education, and was admitted to

Ewha Woman's University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational ins ...

in 1957 where she studied medicine. She completed her medical degree in 1963.

Career

After obtaining her medical degree, Whang undertook an internship at the Ewha Womans University Hospital between 1963-64. She started working as a doctor in Severance Hospital in 1965, focusing on treating child polio patients. In 1966 she founded the Korean Polio Children’s Special Education and Welfare Association when working at

Severance Hospital Severance Hospital is a teaching hospital located in Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun District, South Korea. It is one of the oldest and biggest university hospitals in South Korea. It has 2,437 beds and treats approximately 2,500,000 outpatients and 840, ...

. She was awarded a Rotary Foundation Teacher of the Handicapped Educational Award in 1972, becoming the first Korean person to do so. This allowed her to study rehabilitation techniques at

New York University Medical Center NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and m ...

in 1974-75. However, severe pains in her right leg required her to return to Korea cutting short her time in New York. Upon her return she founded the Jungnip Centre, the first social welfare centre in Korea to cater to disabled people (affected by polio). The centre provided training in skills and exercise to children and adult and included facilities such as a swimming centre. In addition to founding the centre, Whang also served as its director. Over the next decade, Whang continued her extensive work in the medical profession, particularly focusing on improving experiences for polio sufferers. She served as Director of Public Relations of the Korean Medical Women’s Association and as Editor of the Woman Doctor’s News between 1987-80. Since then she has served as Director or been a member of many associations and committees dedicated to improving welfare and promoting sports for disabled people, including being Director and later President of the Korea Employment Promotion Agency for the Disabled Person from 1991-93. She also worked as a member of the Comprehensive Welfare Policy for the Disabled Person (Ministry of Health and Social Affair, Korea). Her work was recognized by

Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant #Citicorp, Citicorp and financial ...

-YWCA Women's Leadership Awards in 2009.

Work on Paralympic Sports

In 1988, Whang served on the Seoul Paralympic Organizing Committee. She was awarded the 5th "Prize of Today's Woman" by the Wife's Life Magazine and donated her prize money to the International Paralympic Committee. In her honour, the IPC established the Whang Youn Dai Overcome Prize (called the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award since 2006) to recognise athletes who exemplify the values of the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. Since 2008, it has been an official part of the closing ceremony. The prize has been awarded to athletes since 1988, the most recent recipients being skiers Sini Pyy and

Adam Hall Adam John Hall (born August 14, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey player. A second round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Hall played in the National Hockey League for the Nashville Predators, ...

. Dr. Whang has worked on sports for disabled people in numerous other ways: she was Director of the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled (KOSAD) from 1991-98 (continuing as Vice President until 2005), mayor of the athletes’ village at the

2014 Asian Para Games The 2014 Asian Para Games ( ko, 2014년 장애인 아시아 경기대회/2014년 장애인 아시안 게임, Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asian Geim), also known as the 2nd Asian Para Games, was an A ...

, and part of the committees for the 2010 and 2014 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games bids. She has received multiple awards in recognition of her work, including the highest award of the Paralympics, the

Paralympic Order The Paralympic symbols are the icons, flags, and symbols used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games. Motto The Paralympic motto is "Spirit in Motion". The motto was introduced in 2004 at the Paralympic Games in ...

. She was presented with a Plaque of Appreciation from at the closing ceremony of the

2018 Winter Paralympic Games ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

in further recognition of her contributions to the games.

Personal life

She is married to Chung Eun Bae who has also worked on improving the welfare of disabled people in Korea.

Awards and honours

* Rotary Foundation Teacher of the Handicapped Educational Award (1972) * 5th "Prize of Today's Woman", Wife's Life Magazine (1988) *

(2005) * Citi-YWCA Women's Leadership Awards (2009) * Plaque of Appreciation, Paralympics (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whang, Youn Dai Living people 1938 births South Korean women physicians 20th-century South Korean physicians 21st-century South Korean physicians Ewha Womans University alumni People from Seoul Recipients of the Paralympic Order Paralympic Games South Korean disability rights activists People with polio