di TORO Lisa Daniela

Classification
TT4 (ipttc.org, 01 Apr 2020)

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (Athlete, 27 Jul 2016)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (Athlete, 27 Jul 2016)

Impairment Details
She has paraplegia after a wall collapsed on her at a school swimming carnival in 1988. The accident also left her partially blind in one eye. "I ended up under about a metre of a big chunk of brick wall and that snapped my spine pretty instantly. There was a lot of anger, a lot of frustration, a lot of people wanting to put blame somewhere, I was 13, so it meant that I had the flexibility in my mind to not feel like I'd lost so much. I could have easily not come away from that accident at all, and that helps bring it home pretty quickly." (abc.net.au, 27 May 2016; ausport.gov.au, 13 Oct 2000; The Age, 22 Mar 1988)

General
WHEELCHAIR TENNIS TO PARA TABLE TENNIS
She retired from competitive wheelchair tennis after an accident in 2012 that saw her suffer chemical burns, and began playing table tennis to remain active. She went on to secure a wild card for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, after competing at five consecutive Paralympic Games in wheelchair tennis. "I was playing in my everyday chair, I didn't know how to serve properly, I didn't know the rules. I certainly wasn't the best table tennis player there, but I was the most experienced athlete and a lot of those clutch environments are down to how you maintain your mind. It was never really pretty, but it resulted in me winning that wild card. I wish I had come to table tennis earlier, it is a wicked sport. Rio was one of those beautiful experiences where, watching our athletes perform at that level, I felt more pride about that than the medals or championships I'd won. I never thought I'd make six Games in a row in two different sports, and this one [Rio] as a genuine rookie was special." (sbs.com.au, 26 Nov 2019; paralympic.org, 27 Apr 2016; sportaus.gov.au, 13 Apr 2021; heraldsun.com.au, 03 Sep 2016; abc.net.au, 27 May 2016)

TOKYO CAPTAIN
In 2019 she and wheelchair rugby player Ryley Batt were appointed the Australian team co-captains for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. She also co-captained the team with wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. "The captaincy is a visceral and daily reminder that you're something more than your own performance. It's beyond humbling. The first time was such a proud moment, but the second time, not many people get to do that." (paralympic.org.au, 26 Nov 2019; sbs.com.au, 26 Nov 2019; paralympic.org, 27 Apr 2016)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2017 she was elected as vice chairperson of the Paralympics Australia athlete commission, and she has also led the commission's athlete engagement subcommittee. (The Australian Paralympian, 18 Oct 2020; paralympic.org.au, 01 Jan 2020, 26 Nov 2019)