Sport driving positive change for those living with disability
Today is International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD), a day observed annually promoting community awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability.
For Paralympic athlete Vanessa Low, sport provided her with a new direction in life after facing adversity at just 15 years of age.
In 2006, Vanessa was struck by train at a railway platform after losing her balance. The accident severed her left leg and left her in a coma for two weeks.
During life-saving surgery her doctors were also forced to amputate her other leg. It took Vanessa two years to relearn to walk using her prostheses.
IDPwD is an important day to Vanessa, but a day she’s gradually leaned into over the years.
“I've been part of this community now for over 18 years,” she said.
“It took me a while to grow into this life where I embrace this day, and where I feel like I want to be part of this community. It’s not a day to put to the side; I want to embrace that part of me.
“Looking back over the last 18 years, since I got my disability, I’m at a point where I feel like it’s so important to cherish how far we've come in that time, for me personally, but even looking back, for the broader community and how much our society has developed.
“We're (people living with disability) not only accepted; we’re embraced for the diversity that we bring into the community.”
Vanessa believes sport is a great mirror to society and where waves of change can occur.
“In allowing people to play their sport of choice and being able to participate is such a fundamental human right,” she said.
“If we can allow more of these things to happen openly and publicly, creating more awareness, then more people have a space for belonging.
“The Paralympics is for the top of the top and those are all athletes that just happen to have a disability, but nonetheless, that is a way for people to see what is possible and what they can do.
“And that doesn't have to be in sport, but sport is a great vehicle in helping people understand that we can make decisions not only based on our circumstance, but really based on what we love doing, where our passions are and the hard work we put into whatever we pursue.”
With this year’s IDPwD theme centred on amplifying the leadership of people with disability for an inclusive and sustainable future, Vanessa believes there is much to gain from placing those with disability in leadership positions.
“It’s a complex topic and I think there needs to be balance.
“I truly believe we can't just give leadership positions to people because they have a disability…they have to bring their qualifications to the table and be the right person for the job.
“However, it’s important to be aware that the way a person with a disability displays those qualities may look very different.
“That's where amplifying those in leadership positions is really important…they may not have the same qualifications as their able body counterparts, but they show different leadership aspects and very different ways.
“Allowing them to lead in a way that suits the special abilities that that very person is bringing to the table, I think that is really crucial.”
A broader feature on Vanessa will be published in our December edition of Sport Integrity Matters magazine, coming soon!
