I AM WHO I AM
Disability Commissioner’s driving force is to be the best
‘ It’s highly unlikely that without my disability I would be doing this job. I am who I am because of my disability’
When I was a kid riding my bike around the streets of Kapiti, I always had this fanciful idea that I could be one of the fastest people in the world. It turns out I could. I won a gold and two bronze medals at the
2008 Beijing Paralympics, and I’ve held a couple of world championship titles.
My disability – the condition is called amniotic banding – affects three limbs. My right leg below the knee has atrophied and has no movement in the ankle, and my left leg is artificial below the knee. I had that amputated when I was 13 and my right hand has some fingers missing.
My family was very much one of those where whatever your older brother could do, you could also do. I was always encouraged to be the best I could be, but I guess the reality was that I spent a number of years in and out of hospital – being in hospital having school lessons, then rehab time at home with more school.
I would go into one surgery not entirely sure how I’d come out, so I had a very acute sense of being different, while battling on to prove that I wasn’t.
I started doing a few duathlons and triathlons with friends, doing the cycling part. Then I did indoor spin classes and met a few like-minded cycling people. I entered a few races, with able-bodied competitors, and did quite well.
I was in my mid-to-late 20s when I took up competitive cycling. I had studied law and politics at Victoria University, worked for a law firm, then the Ministry of Justice in the policy team and operational services.
I had reached a point where I was ready to see if I could make that dream I had on a bike as a youngster – to be the fastest – into a reality. It wasn’t about proving anything to other people; it was very much about me proving to myself that I could be the very best in the world at something.
I did hours and hours of training, usually twice a day, on the bike in the gym and outdoors. I’d traipse down to Invercargill from Wellington – it was the only fully indoor velodrome in New Zealand – every month to do track work.
It was on the bike at five in the morning, work, in the gym straight after work, go home, fall into bed, then do the same thing the next day. I look at it now and think, ‘Oh, my goodness…’
Being made a member of New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 was a great honour. Another really significant one was being named Wellington Sportswoman of the Year twice. It was one of the first times a paralympic athlete had won a major sporting award that was also open to able-bodied athletes. It helped set a foundation for future generations.
As the new Disability Rights Commissioner, I’d like to see a positive discussion about disability. Twenty-four percent of New Zealanders identify as having a disability, so most people are likely to have someone in their family or know of somebody with a disability. We know disabled New Zealanders are not achieving the same outcomes as non-disabled people and that’s something we all have a responsibility to change.
I see my role as being to identify the things where New Zealand could do better – things such as inclusive education, family support, employment and housing.
It’s about trying to change the outcomes for people with disabilities. We know there are more able-bodied people who participate in workplaces than disabled people, and we know that women with disabilities participate less than males with disabilities.
And research shows disabled women are up to three times more likely to be victims of physical and sexual abuse and rape. So across those areas of priority I want us to really shift the dial.
Being a mum – I have a five-year-old son, Samuel – is my most important role. Raising him to be a tolerant young man who grows up to respect others and make the most of the opportunities in his life is number one.
On the career front, disability and sport will likely be passions for the rest of my life.
I’m also the manager of a dragon boat team, an awesome bunch of ladies called Can Survive, who are all breast cancer survivors.
My early years were all about hiding my disability and not wanting to be associated with it, and getting on and being a lawyer. That was when I decided I wanted to become a paralympic athlete, through that journey of acceptance around disability, which led me down the path I’m on now.
It’s highly unlikely that without my disability I would be doing this job. I am who I am because of my disability.”