| Sakari Orava | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 17 June 1945 Kokkola, Finland |
| Education | University of Oulu |
| Years active | 1980 to 2020 |
| Known for | Surgeon for top athletes |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Institutions | Hospital NEO |
| Sub-specialties | Sports medicine |
| Research | Sports medicine |
Yrjö Sakari Orava (born 17 June 1945) is a Finnish sports medicine surgeon, physician, orthopedist, and professor. He retired in 2020.
He attended the medical school at the University of Oulu. Orava had clinics in Turku, Rome and Madrid. He has been dubbed as "Dr. House of sports", and has performed over 20,000 surgeries throughout his career. Orava was the head physician for the Finnish Olympic team in four consecutive Summer Olympics between 1988 and 2000.
High-profile operations
Orava's client list includes football clubs Real Madrid, Sevilla FC, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC and Juventus FC. Orava has also been working with AC Milan since 1986, and he performed a successful surgery on footballer David Beckham at his clinic in Turku in March 2010 to repair his torn achilles tendon.
Orava has performed surgery on many other top athletes as well, including Emanuela Tessitore (old promise of the italian athletic) Marco van Basten, Haile Gebrselassie, Merlene Ottey, Andrea Barzagli, Paul Pogba, Didier Deschamps, Fábio Coentrão, Pep Guardiola, and Ousmane Dembele. Spanish runner, Marta Domínguez, referred to Orava as ”como díos” – like a God.
Personal life
Orava lives in Naantali, Finland, and speaks Finnish, Swedish, English, German, Spanish and Italian. He has a wife, Aira, and two children, Markus and Hanna-Maria. Orava was the 54 kg Finnish boxing champion in 1962. During his time off he enjoys painting.
References
- ^ "Sakari Orava M. D." Málaga Health. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ Susanne Hiltunen (21 August 2009). "Oravan nahassa". Rannikkoseutu (in Finnish).
- ^ "Beckhamin leikannut suomalaislääkäri "kuin jumala"" (in Finnish). Kauppalehti. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- "Beckham eyes playing return after Achilles surgery". BBC News. 16 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- "Tämä mies leikkasi David Beckhamin" (in Finnish). ILTALEHTI. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- "Sakari Orava M. D." Málaga Health Foundation. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017.
External links
Media related to Sakari Orava at Wikimedia Commons
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