Leo St John Close OBE (20 October 1934 – 18 January 1977) was an Irish Vincentian priest and Paralympian sportsman and organiser, who was first president of the Irish Wheelchair Association. Born in Drumcondra in 1934, in Dublin, Christian Brothers in Marino, at Belvedere College and at Mount St Joseph’s Cistercian College in Roscrea, he studied for at All Hallows College in Drumcondra. He was paralysed in an accident aged 23 while a young seminarian; as a wheelchair user his path to ordination was supported by the Archbishop McQuaid of Dublin, a family friend, and Fr William Purcell of All Hallows. He obtained a BA from University College Dublin in preparation for his anticipated role in education. Clerical students from All Hallows would often study at UCD parallel to their clerical stud