Eliza Ault Connell was a (self-described) normal kid with a pretty average childhood until she was 16.
It was then, in 1997, she contracted and nearly died from meningococcal disease.
She spent 2 weeks in a coma during which time her parents had to make the heartbreaking decision to amputate both of her legs to save her life.
Eliza later decided to have her fingers amputated for reasons she’ll share in this conversation.
During her recovery, Eliza was introduced to parasports and started as a runner, before she transitioned across to wheelchair racing - and she hasn’t looked back.
She has since won 3 World Championship medals, 3 Commonwealth Games medals and placed 2nd in a demonstration event at the Athens 2004.
After a 10 year break from racing to raise a family, at the age of 36 Eliza returned to the sport to chase her Olympic dreams once more.
And just a few weeks ago, it was announced that Eliza was one of the first 4 athletes selected to represent Australia at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Get the full show notes for the episode here.
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