SCHRODER Sam

Classification
Quad (itftennis.com, 08 Aug 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (samschroder.nl, 20 Jul 2021)

Impairment Details
He was born with split-hand/split-foot malformation. He has only one finger on each hand, and his feet and toes also did not develop properly. He had 30 operations before his 16th birthday with the aim of improving functionality in his hands and feet. (samschroder.nl, 20 Jul 2021; olympics.com, 13 Oct 2020)

General
CANCER
He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017, at age 18. He underwent surgery to remove his colon in 2018, and resumed playing tennis four weeks after the surgery. "In October 2017 I received the unimaginable message that I had colon cancer. Several weeks of research followed in which I was examined from head to toe and the doctors created a treatment plan. It was clear from the start that it was going to be a tough and long journey, but I always kept the confidence that it would all work out in the end. A heavy treatment followed in which I took chemo tablets from Monday to Friday for five weeks and had to go to Maastricht [Netherlands] every day for radiation. Tennis was on the back burner at the time, but I tried to stay active as best I could. At the time I was diagnosed I was ranked No.1 in the world in the juniors and sixth in the seniors in the quad division and because of that I qualified for the NEC Tennis Masters. Unfortunately I had to withdraw from that. Because eating became more and more difficult and I had lost 10 kilograms, the oncologist decided that I had to get a tube through which I was fed 24 hours a day. Because of this I strengthened well and after the chemo and radiation I felt fit enough to exercise more again and to prepare myself as well as possible for what was to come. It was during the first consultation we had with my doctor, we said, 'No matter what happens I'll bounce back from this and be able to play tennis', it was the most important thing for me. I think it kind of kept me going as well during the treatment." (samschroder.nl, 20 Jul 2021; olympics.com, 13 Oct 2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2020 he was elected to the International Tennis Federation [ITF] Wheelchair Tennis Player Council for a two-year term. (insidethegames.biz, 13 Dec 2020)