PORTLAND – B. Cairbre McCann MD, Rehabilitation Medicine pioneer and leader in the American Wheelchair Sports Movement, passed away peacefully on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 following a long illness. He was 92.

Born Dec. 20, 1928, he was the son of Dr. Sean McCann, President of the Irish Medical Association, and Mrs. Margaret Hession McCann, a nationally recognized Gaelic singer, scholar, and teacher. Cairbre was the 4th of six children.

Distinguishing himself early as an accomplished student, Cairbre matriculated to University College Dublin (UCD) at the age of 17, enrolling in the 6-year medical curriculum. While at UCD, Cairbre played for the hurling team and was captain of the UCD boxing team. It was also at UCD that he met his wife of 66 years, Dr. Eithne Carmel Madden. Following graduation from medical school Summa Cum Laude and first in his class, Cairbre made the unique choice to move to Newfoundland, Canada where he served as the primary physician for remote coastal fishing villages that could only be accessed by the hospital boat, The Lady Anderson. Six months after Cairbre left Ireland, Eithne joined him in St. John’s Newfoundland, where they were married in June, 1954.

While in Saint John’s, an international polio outbreak and consequent epidemic of paralytic conditions convinced both McCanns to pursue fellowships in the newly established specialty of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at New York University. In 1961, post fellowship, the family moved to Greenfield, NH, where Cairbre became the Medical Director at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center for Children. While at Crotched Mountain, Cairbre and Eithne began their life of leadership in sports for the disabled. Cairbre was a founding member of the New England Wheelchair Sports Association and in 1966 helped organize the first New England Wheelchair Games.

In 1969, the McCanns moved to Rhode Island, where Cairbre became the chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation at Rhode Island Hospital. While working in Rhode Island, he helped found a state wheelchair sports organization, and held training sessions in the field behind the family home. On the international front, Cairbre became deeply involved with the International Wheelchair Sports Federation, chairing the Sport Science and Medicine Committee from 1981-1987. Early on, it was clear to Cairbre that, to be fair, competitions between disabled athletes should be based upon the anatomy of their neurologic lesion. With this in mind, he devised a novel international classification system for disabled athletes, wrote The Physician’s guide to Classification, and served as the team physician for the US International Wheelchair team from 1970 to 1980, the preamble to today’s US Paralympic team. His paper on the benefits of sports for the disabled was cited in the US Rehabilitation Act of 1972, which created expanded funding for national sports programs for both veterans and all individuals with disabilities.

In 1976, Cairbre and his family moved to Portland, Maine, where he served as Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Maine Medical Center, with appointments as Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Tufts University and the University of Vermont.

Throughout his years, Cairbre was a busy father who took time to teach chess, math, and Irish history to his children. Over the years, his many dogs were also treated as full family members and showered with great love. He was a devoted husband, an avid Irish music collector, and a fierce squash competitor. Family vacations inevitably coincided with various international wheelchair sport competitions, where Cairbre ensured that his children immersed themselves in the local cultures. He loved the process of learning about and experiencing the foods, music, dance, and art of different cultures, and enthusiastically passed on that love to his children.

Christmas and Thanksgiving meals were celebrations that Cairbre loved to host as it was the rare time of year when his children, their spouses and grandchildren would descend on and fill the home with noise and laughter in competition with the Irish music always in the background.

Three family weddings were held at the family home in Portland. All ended with the bride, groom, priest and most guests being hurled into the family swimming pool in their wedding finery. Other celebrations were more sedate, but had a consistent theme of sharing ideas, stories, food, drink and music with family and friends.

Cairbre is survived by his wife, Dr. Eithne C. Madden McCann, his brother, Aongus McCann of Barna, Ireland; his four children, Dr. Dervilla McCann (Dr. Stephen Meister) of Winthrop, Dr. Una McCann (Dr. George Ricaurte) of Ellicott City, Md., Dr. Sean McCann (Dr. Robin McCann) of Colorado Springs, Colo., Sheila McCann-Morrison (Robert Morrison) of Rolle, Switzerland; and eight grandchildren.

A celebration of Cairbre’s life will take place in the future, when all who wish to attend can travel safely.