Donald "Doc" William Dann, OAM (12 February 1949 – 31 July 2005) was an Australian Paralympic athlete and table tennis player. He was born in the Tasmanian town of Wynyard. He lost a leg to a

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, where he served in the 3rd Cavalry Regiment from 3 December 1968 to 2 June 1969. He competed in athletics and table tennis at the

1980 Arnhem Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics (), branded as the Olympics for the Disabled, were the sixth Summer Paralympic Games. They were held in Arnhem, Netherlands, from 21 to 30 June 1980. Background The Soviet Union, hosts of the 1980 Summer Olympics, wer ...

and won a silver medal in the Men's Javelin A4 event at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics. He founded the Tasmanian Amputee Sporting Association, was involved with several charity military and civilian organisations, and was involved with local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. He was awarded life membership of the

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

sub-branch of the

Returned and Services League of Australia The Returned and Services League of Australia, also known as RSL, RSL Australia and the RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force. History The League was formed in ...

in 2002, along with a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 2004, due to his strong involvement in the organisation. He died on 31 July 2005, aged 56, in Burnie.

References

External links

Donald Dan – Athletics Australia Results
Paralympic athletes for Australia Paralympic table tennis players for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Amputee-category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees Sportsmen from Tasmania Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 1949 births 2005 deaths Australian male javelin throwers Javelin throwers with limb difference Paralympic javelin throwers 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{Australia-tabletennis-bio-stub