Sit ski for first New Zealand woman Winter Paralympian hopeful

I have always loved to compete in sports. Shortly before my fifth birthday I was in a car accident with my whole family which killed my mother on impact, left my father barely clinging to life, and myself permanently wheelchair-bound for the rest of my life. Growing up it was immensely frustrating and crushing to watch my sisters, who had escaped the crash largely unscathed, competing in the sports which I wanted so much to be involved in myself.

However, as I grew older, I discovered some sports I could do, including sit-skiing which I took to with ease and immediate love as a 14 year old. I continued to participate in this sport more as I reached adulthood, achieving a gold medal in the Winter Games at Cardrona during my first competitive race as a 25 year old. At this point I had an opportunity to take the sport even further, however I was not able to due to my priority of commitment to being a mother to my two very young children.

I didn’t let that stop me from competing however, and joined a Para-sailing crew in Auckland, taking my sailing campaign all the way around the world and qualifying New Zealand for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. I was heartbroken however, when despite all my hard work and sacrifice to reach and achieve that life-long goal, my team was not sent because of organisational reasons. It was especially upsetting as sailing will not feature in the coming Paralympics.

For a long time after this I felt like it had all been for nothing, but last winter I hit the slopes again, in the best-fit ski I had had the pleasure of using, and I remembered how much I loved it up there, and moreover, that I am good at it. And then, just recently, I watched the Winter Games, and I realised, that I could do this. That I could take my skill, my passion, and all of the lessons I learnt from my sailing campaign, and go and compete in Para Alpine Skiing at the next Winter Paralympic Games.

And what’s more, when I looked into it I found that no woman from our country has ever competed in that sport, and that I would be leading the way for a whole new generation of young women. That I could show other people like me, who are longing to compete in something truly exhilarating, that this is an option in our country and around the world.

So this is what I am going to do, and this is why I need your help. To achieve my goal I need a ski, fitted to me specifically, so that I can achieve the best results for myself, for my country, and for other sports women like me.