DAWES Christie

Classification
T54 (IPC, 08 Aug 2021)

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (abc.net.au, 10 May 2016)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (abc.net.au, 10 May 2016)

Impairment Details
She has paraplegia as the result of a car accident in 1990. (abc.net.au, 10 May 2016)

General
INSPIRATIONAL MOTHER
She credits her mother for helping her family through with a difficult 12 month-period, during which her father died and she acquired her impairment in a car accident with her family. "There was my mother, father, my older sister, and me. We woke up one morning to find that, during the night, my father had taken his own life. We went to bed with a dad, and woke up without one. For my mum to deal with the death of her husband, let alone the way in which he died, is huge, but she just kept on. It was a very hard time, but the amount of strength she showed throughout that time was ridiculous. Then, 11 months later, we were going on a family holiday, my mother, my sister, and myself and we had a car accident. And that's when I became paraplegic. It was a lot. People always think you have to have a chair stuck to your arse or a leg missing or something to have a story, but so many people, everybody, has a story, and that's ours. My mum is the strongest woman I know." (newcastleherald.com.au, 09 Mar 2019)