Olympic and Paralympic stories inspire students
Pictured with Olympian Richard Hamilton, left, and Paralympian Stuart Tripp, third from left, are Terence Ting, Dr Paul Brougham, Bernadette Cranswick and Tiro Ottiomile.
Gippsland students were able to wind down after their recent practice OSCEs with some food and a couple of excellent guest speakers.
Australian Stuart Tripp, who has just returned from the London Paralympics, was joined by Richard Hamilton who was in Great Britain’s men’s rowing 8 at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Both told the students about their experiences and journey to being an elite athlete and the dedication required to get there.
Stuart’s story is particularly inspiring. In 1994, as a 24-year-old, he was involved in a car accident and after weeks in a coma, woke to discover his right leg had been amputated and had also suffered head trauma and his kidney damage.
On what was at times an emotional physical journey of recovery, Stuart took up hand-cycling and channeled all of his positive energy into the sport. He managed this so successfully that he finished in the top ten in both of his events at the London Games early last month.
For the students, the stories told by both men put in perspective some of their anxieties about undertaking the practice OSCEs!