From paralysis to world No. 1: Ian St. John’s €100,000 quest for golfing glory
Ian St John at St Andrews
In the summer of 2016, Ian St. John had a life that seemed picture-perfect.
He was a popular PGA Professional at Rush Golf Club, with a beautiful wife, Orla, a two-year-old daughter, Chloe, and another baby on the way. But within weeks, that perfect world shattered.
Diagnosed with spinal cancer, Ian was left paralysed from the waist down. Orla was eight months pregnant with their second daughter, Sophie.
What followed was a harrowing odyssey of ten months of chemotherapy and radiation at Beaumont Hospital, followed by five months of gruelling rehabilitation, learning to live with paralysis.
The most devastating twist came in December 2020, when the HSE (Health Service Executive) admitted medical negligence in a formal case.
As Ian puts it plainly: “The most saddening aspect is that I should be still walking. I should not be paralysed!”
It meant reassessing his life completely,
“Golf was not just my career — it was my identity,” he said in a GoFundMe post asking for financial backing to pursue his dream.
“When I became paralysed, I truly believed that part of my life was over.”
He couldn’t even watch the Ryder Cup.
Then, in 2019, a stranger in the National Rehabilitation Hospital approached him in a remarkable machine. It was a Paragolfer—a specialised device that allows disabled people to stand and play golf.
“It was like a spark,” Ian recalled. That spark ignited a new chapter. With incredible support from Tramore Golf Club, funds were raised to buy the €35,000 machine. Ian began rebuilding his game from scratch.
Today, Ian is not just playing again; he is competing on the world stage.
In 2024, he helped Ireland to a fourth-place finish at the European Team Championships.
Ian St John in action
Last year, he finished third in both the USDGA Championship in Florida and the G4D Open in England—two of the three major championships of the year. In October, after two years of near misses, he finally captured his first tournament win at the South African G4D Open Nett.
His goal now is to become World No. 1 and win multiple major titles. But there is a massive obstacle standing between Ian and his dream: money.
Competing internationally as a seated golfer is staggeringly expensive. The G4D tour features 12 scheduled events this year across the globe, from Genoa to Madrid, London to Florida. For an able-bodied golfer, travel is a simple plane ticket.
For Ian, it is a military logistics operation. Aviation law allows him to bring his manual wheelchair, electric wheelchair, and the Paragolfer, but everything else multiplies. He requires two flights (for himself and a carer), two hotel rooms (with specific roll-in showers—he often has to ask hotels to send photos to ensure his chair fits), a rented van, and a ramp.
He travels with roughly ten pieces of luggage.
The costs are eye-watering. A single trip to the United States can set him back between €8,000 and €10,000. While Golf Ireland has generously doubled its bursary to €1,000 per event, that barely dents the monthly outlay.
“It’s always about the logistics,” he explained. “It can be painful at times to try and get that sorted out.”
That is why Ian has launched a GoFundMe campaign with a target of €100,000 to help meet his expenses for the 2026 season.
“It’s never lost on me that I wouldn’t be going here if I wasn’t paralysed,” he told the Waterford News and Star last year. “You have to laugh at it and go, ‘Yeah, OK, disaster.’ Look, I’d love to be walking. But I do accept the way I am. I have a wonderful life. Wonderful life.”
For eight years, he insisted he would not accept his condition, but a solicitor friend finally told him to “cop on”
“Golf has absolutely saved my life,” he told Ray Scott in the Waterford News and Star “The Paragolfer has saved my life. It’s given me a purpose.”
He dreams of qualifying for the US Adaptive Open, the ultimate major. But he cannot get there alone and is asking for help.
“Your support is not just helping me play golf,” Ian wrote. “It’s helping me continue rebuilding my life, represent my country, and chase a dream that once felt impossible.”
To join Ian’s journey and help him become World No. 1, visit his GoFundMe page today at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ian-paralysis-to-world-no1-disabled-golfer
