A Life Without Limits

A Life Without Limits

As a boy, severely disabled after contracting polio as a baby in working class Liverpool, Bert Massie found himself wondering why disabled people were expected to adapt to the world around them, and not the other way round. In his teens, he began to campaign for rights for disabled people, and having battled his way through prejudice and the education system to become a Bachelor of Arts and a qualified social worker, he became a prominent figure in the fight for fair treatment for disabled people leading to the ground breaking Disability Discrimination Act. He went on to serve as Chairman of t...

As a boy, severely disabled after contracting polio as a baby in working class Liverpool, Bert Massie found himself wondering why disabled people were expected to adapt to the world around them, and not the other way round. In his teens, he began to campaign for rights for disabled people, and having battled his way through prejudice and the education system to become a Bachelor of Arts and a qualified social worker, he became a prominent figure in the fight for fair treatment for disabled people leading to the ground breaking Disability Discrimination Act. He went on to serve as Chairman of the Disability Rights Commission and became a founding commissioner of the subsequent Equality and Human Rights Commission. His extraordinary achievements were recognised by the award of an OBE, then a CBE and finally, in 2007, a knighthood. This is his remarkable and engaging story, completed by his wife Maureen and friends after his death in October 2017.

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