Joachim Deckarm

Joachim Deckarm (born January 19, 1954 in Saarbrücken) is a former West German handball player who played for VfL Gummersbach and the German national handball team. After surviving a horrific sports accident in 1979, he is mentally handicapped.

With Gummersbach, Deckarm won three German championships (1974-76) and two European team championships (1974 and 1978). Deckarm was part of the West German team which finished fourth in the Olympic tournament and part of the successful 1978 team which won the first handball World Championship for West Germany. He played all six matches and scored 28 goals.

Accident and aftermath

Deckarm's career abruptly ended on March 30, 1979 in a Eurocup match versus the Hungarian squad of Tatabanya. On a fastbreak, Deckarm sprinted towards the goal with the ball in his hands, but became victim of a hard foul by Tatabanya player Lajos Panovics. Deckarm's head smashed against the ground (not a modern rebounding surface, but rather concrete covered by a thin PVC layer), suffered multiple head trauma and lay in a coma for 131 days. When he awoke, he was basically locked into his own body, unable to move a limb. Fighting bouts of deep depression, Deckarm eventually fought his way back into life. He remained mentally handicapped, but regained his mobility and is capable of doing short interviews. He currently lives in his native Saarbrücken in a home for handicapped people.