Background
She was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 19 September 1981.
She was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 19 September 1981.
She survived meningococcal disease and plays a major role in improving the Australian community"s awareness of the disease. In 1997, at the age of 16, she nearly died from meningococcal disease. She had both her legs amputated above the knees two days after contracting the disease.
She said Amputation wasn"t a decision I had to make: I was in a coma at the time.
Mum and Dad were told that"s what had to be done to save my life, so in that sense there was no choice. Later she had to make the decision to have most of the fingers on each hand removed.
She was in hospital for six months. In 1998, she acquired prosthetic legs.
She is involved in promoting the awareness of meningococcal disease in the Australian community.
Athletics Before her illness, she excelled in netball and basketball. In 1998, she started running using her prosthetic legs and was classed T44 athlete. However, she was forced to move to wheelchair racing as a T54 athlete due to a problem with the bone in the stump.
At the 2004 Olympic Games, she finished second in the demonstration sport of Women"s 1500 m wheelchair and the Women"s 800 m wheelchair.
She also participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics. At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she competed in five events and did not medal.
2002 Australian Junior Paralympian of the Year
2003 Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year
2007 Victorian State Finalist Young Australian of the Year 2007.