No Legs, No Arms, No Worries...

This guy is amazing! He was born in Australia with no arms or legs and now travels the world as an inspirational speaker. I will definately be getting in contact with him... This is a link to his own website, it's a very interesting read... Enjoy

Children Walking For Sick Kids

Aaron Nielsen is now a happy and healthy 11 year old Boy who survived a major life-threatening kidney operation two years ago. While he was critically ill, he says that the crew from the Starlight Room in the Children’s Hospital at Westmead made his recovery such a happier and more memorable time.

One of the Starlight Rooms, which is run by the Starlight Foundation, operates out of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, in Sydney. The Starlight Room is a great place for sick kids and their families to hang out, they play trivia games, show movies on a big screen, they have video games, craft sessions and lots of fun games for patients and their families to enjoy. There is also a live television broadcast of what’s happening from the starlight room straight to the children’s hospital televisions, for those who are too sick to leave their hospital rooms.

The Starlight Foundation started in 1988 in Australia, they also grant wishes for seriously ill, disabled and hospitalised children. Each wish averages $6000 and can range from meeting a hero to going to Disneyland.

Aaron was so grateful for the support he received from the Starlight Foundation that he wants to give them something back. He and his best mate James, have decided to walk from CUA Stadium in Penrith to Bondi. They have allowed themselves 2 days to walk the 64kms, with a stopover at Flemington; they will of course be accompanied by Aaron’s parents and lots of friends and supporters.

To show his appreciation, Aaron wants to raise $6000 from the walk – the average cost of a wish – to help a sick kid in hospital. He is up to $2170, he needs to raise the money by this Friday when they set off on their walk. Visit http://www.everydayhero.com.au/hero_pages/donate/?url=aaron_nielsen_4 to donate as much or as little as you’d like to help Aaron reach his goal and help a sick child.

This little boy is so sweet and selfless to offer his time to raise money for such a great charity. I hope he reaches his goal and maybe also raises awareness about the Starlight Foundation and what they do. To view the original story of Aarons endeavor, click here http://www.penrithstar.com.au/news/local/news/general/claremont-meadows-boy-to-walk-to-bondi/1572565.aspx

When I was 11, I was granted a wish from the Starlight Foundation; my mum was told about the wish program after one of my many hospital stays.

The hardest part was deciding what I wanted to wish for. It was between three of my favourite ideas, which were an African safari, to meet the cast of Seinfeld or a shopping spree.

I chose the shopping spree. It was so much fun, I went with my mum, her sister and my brother, we were picked up in a white limo, we were given a huge box of chocolates, a big bunch of roses and $5000 to spend in a surf shop, Myer, (Grace Brothers as it was known back then) and a music store.

It was one of the most memorable days of my life and it has definitely left an impression. One of the things that I got was my very first double bed, I still have it, so I am always reminded of the day the Starlight Foundation granted me a wish.

I think it’s a very wonderful opportunity for sick or disabled children to have. They survive on donations to keep the program going and there are always children on waiting lists. To make a donation to help a sick or disabled child’s wish come true or to apply to receive a wish for your disabled child, go to http://www.starlight.org.au/Pages/default.aspx.

Miracle Baby Refuses To Die

For parents, Leigh and David, celebrating their son Warwick’s 1st Birthday, seemed like a dream come true.

Warwick was born 11 weeks premature, the doctors predicted that if he survived, he would be severely disabled, not being able to see, hear, move or even recognize his parents.

Only weighing 2 pounds, little Warwick had a bleed on his brain and an infection in his heart, they said he would have had no quality of life.

With that devastating news, Leigh and David made the hardest decision of their lives, after keeping Warwick alive on an incubator, they decided to take him out of it and consented to him being listed as – Do Not Resuscitate.

They were placed in a private room while they had to wait for their newborn baby to die. It was eight long days of saying their goodbyes, giving their final hugs to their long awaited baby who wouldn’t be.

He set the heart monitor off an enormous 18 times when his heart stopped beating, at times; turning blue, they thought that was it, and prepared themselves. Miraculously, every time, Warwick started breathing again on his own.

One month later, when he reached 3 pounds, he was able to be taken home with his family. Three months after that, he was given a clean bill of health; doctors said his infection in his heart had completely cleared up and he was going to survive.

Warwick has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, but his mum says she is confident that he will be able to crawl and speak when he is older, and he’s already doing a great deal more than what the doctors first predicted.

This cute little boy must have the strongest soul to have survived his heart stopping 18 times; it’s amazing what humans are capable of.
To view the entire article, click here - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,25922986-5012749,00.html

Disabled News Readers

This is awesome; it’s a video that features a group of American reporters who have a mixture of intellectual and physical disabilities.

They met over 10 years ago at a summer camp and decided to start a comedy news broadcast called ‘How’s Your News’.

In this episode, they travel across America in a tour bus from Austin Texas to Louisiana, to New Orleans and New York.

Whilst travelling across the country, they visited a prison rodeo at Louisiana State Penitentiary, where they interviewed prisoners about the rodeo; with some funny reactions once they realized they were speaking to convicted murderers.

They freestyle rapped with some musicians in New Orleans, I love Sue’s lyrics, very funny.

They interviewed bands in Austin Texas at a South By Southwest music festival. They close their night in Austin Texas by singing a song that one of them wrote about New York and they don’t sound too bad.

They bumped into D-list actress Kathy Griffin in New York. They also had a quick chat with Bill Hader, who’s appeared on the hit show, Saturday Night Live and movies, such as Knocked Up and Superbad.

Click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgW7eVI5iYA to view the video, it goes for 8 minutes but it’s definitely worth a look at.

They poke fun at themselves and have so much fun doing their interviews. I think all reporters could learn something from the ‘How’s Your News’ crew.

Quadriplegic Sails Solo Round The UK

This is the story of one of the most inspirational women I have ever heard of.

She was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy when she was around the age of 15; this is a debilitating disease that causes total paralysis. Hilary Lister, now 37, can only move her mouth, head and eyes.

Despite this, she has managed to sail solo around the UK in three months on a 20 foot racing yacht named ‘Me Too’, using a sip and puff system that controls the vessel. With three straws set up near her mouth, they allow her to steer and control the yacht by as simply as blowing into and sipping on the straws, alternating between the three, depending on what she requires them to do. The sip and puff system was designed by a Canadian man by the name of Steve Alvey.

Hilary previously held the record for the first quadriplegic person to sail solo across the English Channel. Now, she has set a new world sailing record as the first quadriplegic woman to sail solo around the UK.

When she says solo, she stops every night with the help of her support team, who follow her coordinates all the way. Other than them helping her reef (being towed into shore), she does everything else. When the team comes to help pull her into shore, she makes sure she is dropped off at the exact same spot the next day, just so she is not given any advantages.

Her boat is equipped for such disasters such as if the yacht was to capsize, her chair that she sits in, has a flotation device attached to it so she would pop back up for her support team to rescue her.

Hilary was welcomed yesterday by a cheering crowd as she sailed into Dover Harbour, Kent, which is her home town. She said she couldn’t believe she had done it and will be more relieved once she has had time for it to sink in.

Her trip raised $30,000 for her charity called Hilary’s Dream Trust, which raises money to help other paralyzed people who want to reach their dreams of sailing.

To view the video of Hilary’s journey, click here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8231041.stm .

It makes you aware that if someone who can only move her head, can sail around solo for three months, it is possible to achieve almost anything!

A Brave Little Angel

This story is about a little boy called Mattie Stepanek, who isn’t in the current news headlines, but has stuck in my heart and mind ever since I saw him on The Oprah Whinfrey Show in 2001.

Mattie was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and he appeared on the show when he was very sick in hospital. When Oprah asked him what he wanted for Christmas that year, he said “If it's not too much trouble, pray for me." I remember this episode vividly and though I am not overly religious, and don’t usually pray, I prayed for little Mattie, as did people all over the world.

His mother also suffers from an adult form of the disorder and she had lost three children to it previously.

He fortunately recovered and during this time, he and Oprah grew very close. He appeared on her show again, with his messages of hope for peace in the world.

These messages came in the form of what Mattie called ‘Heartsongs’ which in his own words was, “the song in my heart. It was the message in my heart. A heartsong doesn't have to be a song in your heart even talking about love and peace. It can just be your message. It can be your feelings."

With this as his life’s philosophy, he went on to write 5 volumes of bestselling books that contained his poems about ‘Heartsongs’. These bestselling books sold millions of copies.

In 2004, he became very ill again and ended up in hospital. Sadly, this time, Mattie died just before what would have been his 14th birthday.

This video is what Oprah presented the day she announced that he had died. I remember watching it and crying my eyes out. It was so sad to see what he’d lived with at such a young age, but also, so encouraging to see what a brave old soul he had.

He was truly an inspiration and I definitely urge you to watch Oprah’s tribute, it’s so moving, especially if you knew of Mattie and his ‘Heartsongs’.

Oprah’s tribute video - http://www.oprah.com/media/20081025_tows_mattie

Lost Dog Saves Down Syndrome Boy

This story was found at http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=848733 – It tells the story of a lost dog, who saved 21 year old Christian Segovia’s life, he has Downs Syndrome and was having a seizure. Christian’s neurologist said that if it hadn’t been for the dog, he would’ve died from choking on his own blood.

The lost honey-coloured terrier they named RaeLea, who was found by a neighbour and given to the Segovia family, who live in Port Tampa in Florida, until they could find the owner. After printing off thousands of flyers and posting them up around the area, stating that RaeLea had been found, nobody called to collect him.

Four days later, Christian’s mother Yolanda, was outside watering plants when RaeLea came running to the door barking and yelping, Yolanda rushed inside and followed the dog, who went running into Christian’s bedroom, she found him on the floor in the middle of a fit, bleeding from his nose and mouth. She then nurtured her son, once realizing what had just happened, she decided to keep RaeLea.

The very next day, the owner of RaeLea (who’s real name was Odie) called. He arrived to collect his dog, Odie ran to the man as soon as they saw each other. After hearing what had happened, and seeing that Christian and his brother were sad to see Odie leave, the man said that Odie was probably meant to find Christian and they could keep him.

This is such a beautiful story. I have always believed that animals have a special sense when it comes to people with disabilities. I know I always pay attention to my dogs; I have brittle bones (which means my bones break very easily), one day I was standing on my wheelchair hanging out the washing, (which is not the smartest thing to do), when my little Mini Foxy X – Abbey, came running up to me, jumping and pawing at my chair, I think she was trying to tell me to get down, so I did. Dogs have always been very gentle around me too, I am still wary around big ones but even with friends and family’s dogs, they never seem to jump up on me, it’s as if they know that they’ll hurt me.

To view the original story, click on the link above.

Blind Chef

This article was found on the SMH website. It is a very inspirational story of an apprentice chef, Tony Carter, who has 4 per cent vision in his right eye, no vision in his left and no peripheral vision. He cannot see up, down or sideways but he can make out blurred figures and bright colours. Despite this, he has just joined Atlas Café Restaurant, a busy eatery in Newcastle.

He says "As a kid, I was always in the kitchen; I spent every night, weekend and school holiday helping my mum with the cooking and learning my grandma's secrets for perfect home-made apple pies."

Hired by the head chef and owner, of Atlas, Bartholomew Connors, worried at first says "When Tony applied for the job, I spoke to him over the phone and he said to me, 'There's one problem. I can't see,’ of course I was taken aback but everyone deserves a fair go.”

His method of cooking is very different from conventional chefs, Tony cooks meals, using taste, smell and touch. He memorizes his way around the kitchen and most of his ingredients are kept in brightly coloured containers for him to identify them more easily.

He says he’s had some close calls in the kitchen, though his worst disaster that he can remember to date is overcooking a steak; sounds as though he does his job just as well as anyone else could.

Even after being told he shouldn’t venture into this career by his TAFE teacher, he didn’t let his vision impairment get in the way of his lifelong dream of becoming a chef. He had been knocked back from a lot of restaurants and cafés but he committed himself, until Atlas gave him a chance, which paid off.

I think the owner of Atlas, Bartholomew Connors, deserves a pat on the back for not letting stereotypical views get in his way of hiring a reliable, dedicated chef. More people need to be aware of these types of success stories to show what people with disabilities are capable of overcoming with a little patience and trust.

Click on 'Blind Chef' to view the article in it's entirety.

Inspirational Soccer Player

I found this article on the SMH website; 12 year old Rae from the Central Coast was born with Cerebral Palsy. With years of treatment and rehabilitation, she has been able to get rid of her wheelchair and braces and now not only walks but is the sports captain of her schools soccer team in which she plays! It's amazing what treatments are becoming available these days. To read the full story, click on the Inspirational Soccer Player heading and it will take you straight to the article.