Even after a life-changing operation in 1969, during which he lost his right arm, Quinn Talbot has lived a full life.

The talented all-round sportsman doesn't know about boundaries and limitations -- in fact he doesn't even like the words `handicap' and `can't' -- which probably explains why he has achieved things many doubted he ever could. Like riding a scooter with his left hand; playing sports like golf, cricket and soccer, and doing things around the house that two-handed people would find a task. He was never one to feel sorry for himself and has the kind of `get-it-done' attitude that should serve as a source of encouragement to anybody doubting their own abilities.

"I don't accept there is anything I can't do,'' said Mr. Talbot, who has twice won the World One-Arm Golf Championships in Britain.

"I haven't come across anything I can't do. I just put my mind to things and don't give up. In my mind no one's handicapped, only mentally handicapped.'' The accident that changed Talbot's life came in October 1967, when he was involved in a bike accident at the junction of Knapton Hill and Harrington Sound Road.

He was 17-years-old at the time and had a promising sporting career ahead of him as a goalkeeper for Hamilton Parish and a talented cricketer for Cleveland County. But the injury suffered in that accident ended those dreams...somewhat! "I broke the arm and the way I fell on it I ripped the nerves,'' he said, and takes full responsibility for the accident even though he says he can't remember the actual incident. He does remember speeding, just as many teenagers still do today.

"I played soccer that day against Social Club,'' he recalls. "I can remember going to an FA Cup game at PHC Stadium between PHC and Devonshire Colts and was riding my bike then as I see many of them doing today.

"I can remember that day clearly, but I can't remember the accident. I was racing my bike, a Cyrus, with another guy on Harrington Sound. I was unconscious for a few hours after the accident and spent four or five days in hospital.'' Talbot still had his arm when he came out of hospital but he had lost all mobility in the limb. Determined, even then, the young Talbot continued to play soccer, eventually switching from goalkeeper to an outfield player.

"I never stopped playing, even with the arm just dangling,'' he says. "I could have still had the arm today, but I just didn't want that. I made a brave decision by having it amputated 18 months later -- and I think I made the right decision.

"I still wanted to play soccer, cricket and golf and I think it was more of a hindrance than a help. I had no use of the arm.'' Talbot, now a Christian, thanks God for saving his life, saying that if he hadn't lost his arm he probably would have eventually died on the road. Even after he got out of the hospital from that surgery the stubborn teenager was back on a bike! Fortunately for Talbot he is left-handed so there are some things that didn't require major adjustments. Coming from the Harris Bay area, cricket was in his blood and during the summer of 1970, he vowed to play cricket again after watching the Cleveland team lose badly to Flatts in the Eastern Counties.

The following year he set about becoming a one-arm cricketer, and after regularly claiming wickets with his slow left-arm deliveries, he was picked to make his county debut against St. David's on July 17, 1971.

"I was getting wickets that season, nobody could deny me that.

"I even surprised myself by how good I did so I decided I was going to play in the county game. I just trained and trained and trained.'' Talbot became the first one-arm player in the Eastern Counties and justified his selection by taking two for 45 off 18 overs with three maidens at St.

David's.

"It was the only county game to go into overtime, just to see me bat!'' he recalls. The player who was mobbed by the Cleveland fans after collecting his first wicket, Harold Millett for 50.

The article in the Royal Gazette on the Monday heaped praise on the young colt, stating: "While the honours went to St. David's, the praise must go to the courage of Cleveland's Quinn Talbot who refused to permit his one-armed handicap to inhibit his cricket enthusiasm.

"Talbot warmed the hearts of spectators with his accurate left-arm spin deliveries which helped choke the St. David's run rate. He was relentless on the field and even though his period at the wicket was short it was he who infused some life into an otherwise uninspiring Cleveland innings. The fans were thrilled as he executed fine defensive strokes against the St. David's bowling.'' After that Talbot was even more determined to do whatever he put his mind to and got seriously into golf after playing in a company tournament while working at the Bank of Butterfield.

"I didn't think I was going to end up playing golf as good as I'm playing now, or even to teach golf,'' he conceded.

"I took a couple of lessons from Edmund Jackson at the Sportsman's Shop and then just started to take it serious. Butch Lindo was another person who helped me out a lot by encouraging me to play and practice.

"I can remember one year I had three holes-in-one inside three months and twice I was with Butch Lindo playing at Ocean View. Once I was playing with his clubs! "To get as good as I was I practised a lot, like when I was playing soccer or cricket.

"I did play golf when I had both arms. Even when I'm teaching golf if someone says they can't do it, I don't like to hear that,'' he says with determination in his voice.

"I was even drafted into the army and went up there but they told me I was unfit. If I had to serve I would have served.'' He played in the National Amputee Golf Championships in 1973 in the United States, playing, at that time with a handicap of about 18 or 20.

"It gave me encouragement to be better,'' he says. "There were guys with one leg but I never saw anybody playing with one arm.

"In the first year I came second in my division (one-arm). The following year I came back with my handicap down to about 12 or 15 and from that year I won my division five straight years. The hardest thing was to be able to qualify in the first ten (overall) to be able to play in the final and I never did that.'' Mr. Talbot continued to flourish as a sportsman in the 1970s, also playing a few First Division games as a reserve for Devonshire Colts under coach Donald Dane. He also attained green belt level in Jujitsu under Burnell Williams.

But it is in golf where Talbot has had his biggest achievements, winning world titles in 1988 in Southend, England and '91 in Ireland when he clinched victory on the 18th hole.

He was beaten in the final on another occasion and also reached the semi-finals on another. This year he will head to Headford, Ireland in search of the elusive third title.

"This year I hope to do real good, I had a lot of obstacles last year with pain in my arm,'' he said.

Talbot had surgery on his spine in December in Boston and, finally, after four operations in the last five years he is seeing great improvement.

"I feel a lot better now. Having that pain I went for months and months without a decent night's sleep.

"The pain I've been having in my stump is from the spine.'' Employed at Ocean View as a teaching pro (it will be four years in September), Talbot credits the club for a lot of what he has accomplished in the sport. He drives the ball about 240 yards off the tee with a three-wood while his eight-iron shots carry about 150 yards.

"I've never used a driver, I just can't control it.'' In his spare time Talbot repairs golf clubs at his home.

"That's a big achievement, I learned by myself through trial and error,'' he says.

"I also play the trumpet which Ghandi Burgess taught me to play. I like to do things. In my shed there is every tool you need besides the big tools.'' As well as helping his father build a two-bedroom apartment onto his father's house, Mr. Talbot also built an eight-foot boat by himself.

"People used to say me `if I didn't see you do it, I wouldn't believe it', he stated. He's also pretty handy in the kitchen as a cook, as his wife Sherry can attest to.

"I could have sat down and had somebody do everything for me, but I was not brought up that way,'' said Talbot, who was the middle child amongst four brothers and four sisters. I can remember after I left school and was not working and my mother used to tell me `if you don't bring anything into the house, don't take anything out'. In other words if you don't work, don't eat.'' For a time he was even working two jobs, at the bank during the day and as a bartender at night. He just did what he had to do to make a life for himself.

"I can remember working on a farm getting 4 a week in the mid-1960s,'' he recalled. "I hated that job but I still used to go to work every day.

"The only time I ever felt sorry for myself was when my first marriage failed, knowing that I had failed my family,'' said the father of two grown daughters, Quinnell and Nicole.

These days few people who know him are surprised at what he is capable of doing. They just don't put anything past him.

"Every time I see somebody working I watch what they are doing,'' he says.

"A lot of it has to do with determination. There is no such thing as `I can't'.

"The only time people are handicapped is when they limit themselves.''