PARA ATHLETE (WH 1)
Country: Australia
Place of Birth: Melbourne, Australia
Date of Birth: 28 January 1976
Specialist Event(s): Men’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
Height: 199cm
Education: St Peter and Paul’s Primary School and St Leo’s College.
Language(s): English
Play L or R: Right
Sporting Achievements:
Ambitions:
To compete at a Paralympics either in Paris, LA or Brisbane.
Idols: Kobe Bryant, David Goggins and my mum (DeArne Ford)
Biography:
I am a C5,6,7 incomplete quadriplegic who had a mishap in July 2012 where I was walking along and collapsed and became a quadriplegic. My disc exploded and collapsed in my neck and cut my spinal cord. I initially had no movement from my neck down but managed to get my arms working again but still don’t have full sensation. It was a very hard road to where I am today and it took me 8 years before I even got out to community again and started to play sport again in a wheelchair.
The way I came across badminton was by chance as I was doing preseason with my mates for wheelchair AFL where they decided to mix it up and bring in some badminton gear to have a hit. I never have really played racquet sport but it felt like I had played this game before and it came naturally to me. They suggested I get into it and join them on weekends and it all took off from there and that was late January 2023.
I started to love the game and I was hooked having my first international in Brazil a few months later. 12 months down the track and I am now in the top 20 of the world in singles, doubles and mixed.
Interesting Fact:
I now have 5 kids where 2 are biologically mine and my partner has 3 so it is a busy household. I get up at 3am every morning and make them fresh chicken wraps where I cook the chicken and all, before I head to training which is just over an hour to the court. I am usually on court by 6am everyday.
The thing I live by is you can’t change the past but you can change your future!!
