Inspire the next generation of Paralympians

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Give today and help Paralympics New Zealand find, inspire and support the next Mary Fisher or Corey Peters.

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Mary Fisher is a Paralympian who won four medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. She is 21 and was born with a genetic eye condition that resulted in Mary only having 10% of ‘normal’ sight. She steadily lost all of her remaining vision as a teenager. After giving many sports a go at primary school, she settled for swimming. Water is where she feels free and independent.

"It was a decade long dream of mine realised when I made my Paralympic debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The atmosphere was incredible and an experience where I won one gold, two silver and a bronze medal. A defining month and making me New Zealand's second most successful athlete, after teammate Sophie Pascoe."

Mary is currently ranked 1st in the world in six events. Her next major international meet is in the USA in August - the Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships. She has high expectations of herself and is aiming to medal and retain her world rankings.

Fellow Paralympian Corey Peters won a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. He is 31 and in 2009 was paralysed in a motocross event. He went through some dark times but with an intensive rehabilitation programme he fought his way back and in 2011 was introduced to the sport of adaptive sit-skiing. Corey now competes in four different disciplines and continues to move up the world rankings.

Undoubtedly his career highlight was being selected to represent New Zealand at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. He had an outstanding Paralympic debut winning a silver medal in the Giant Slalom. "The feeling of satisfaction was huge – all the hard work and determination had paid off and I had turned a devastating life changing injury into sporting success."

Corey is now back on the snow for the 2014 NZ Winter season. He knows he will continue to excel and ski faster and faster. Corey is looking forward with absolute excitement to the Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

Give today and help Paralympics New Zealand find, inspire and support the next Mary Fisher or Corey Peters.

About us

Paralympics New Zealand is a charity and our overall vision is ‘Through Para sport, lives will be transformed’.

As a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), we are part of a worldwide social change movement, which uses the power of sport to positively influence community perceptions of disabled people and to promote a more diverse and inclusive society.

To do this, we support and celebrate the achievements of Para athletes at international and national competitions all year round. Every two years, we lead New Zealand Paralympic Teams to the Paralympic Games. We also work in the local community to advocate for sport to become more accessible for disabled people and to support the creation of more systems and programmes to enable participation in Para sport.