Spinal Cord Injuries Australia is calling for nominations for Lifetime Members for 2021.

An SCIA Life Member is someone who has shown an extraordinary commitment and contribution to SCIA and the empowerment of people with spinal cord injury and other physical disability.

We’re asking our members to nominate someone they think deserves this honour for the Board to consider.

Any SCIA member can nominate a person for life membership. Please note the person being nominated also needs to be a member (phone us on 1800 819 775 to check if you are unsure).

Nominations must be received by 5:00pm on Friday 22 October, 2021 to be considered by the Board.

SCIA and Youthsafe have partnered to prevent unintentional injury of young people, by offering advice and support.

In the second instalment of Advice for a Younger Generation, SCIA’s Peer and Family Support team member Kate, gives the advice that she wishes she had when she was younger.

Spinal Cord Injuries Australia’s (SCIA) CEO Dianne Lucas was featured in The CEO Magazine to talk about the challenge of convincing society to think outside of the false narratives that have been spun about disability, from their personality, outlook and their abilities.

Excerpt:

People with disabilities from all over Australia who have such amazing stories and have trained and worked so hard to achieve their goals and dreams.

For some those goals and dreams have resulted in medals. For others, just being able to represent their country and compete is an incredible achievement. I am so proud of each and every one of them.

We want to share with you the uplifting story of one of our long term and valued team leaders, Fabian Blattman.

Fabian is a Paralympic legend, winning five gold, five silver and six bronze medals across four Paralympics Games and many World Championships as well as being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for Dedication to Sport following his gold medal performance at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. 

Fabian described Sydney as the best Paralympics and his highlight was winning gold in the Men’s 400m T51.

“There were 40,000 people in the stands on the day that I won my gold medal. It was an incredibly moving experience to be on the podium singing the Australian national anthem with my friends and family there to witness the rewards of all the hard work.”

Fabian’s story is a wonderful example of what is possible; striving for your goals and dreams, no matter what the barrier or challenge and achieving incredible things.