Impairment Information |
Type of Impairment |
Spinal Cord Injuries |
Origin of Impairment |
Acquired |
Classification |
T54 |
Further Personal Information |
Family |
Husband Andrew Dawes, son Charlie |
Other names |
Christie Skelton |
Residence |
Newcastle, NSW, AUS |
Languages |
English |
Higher education |
Education - University of Newcastle: Australia |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
At age 12 she watched Australian wheelchair athlete Louise Sauvage at the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona and thought it looked fun. |
Name of coach |
Andrew Dawes [husband] |
Training Regime |
She trains at the New South Wales Institute of Sport [NSWIS] in Sydney, NSW, Australia. |
Senior International Debut |
Year |
1996 |
Competing for |
Australia |
General Interest |
Most influential person in career |
Her husband and coach Andrew Dawes. (paralympic.org.au, 18 Dec 2012) |
Hero / Idol |
Her mother Roslyn, US talk show host Oprah Winfrey. (paralympic.org.au, 18 Dec 2012) |
Injuries |
In November 2011 she had surgery which she was told would be a simple 15-minute procedure. Complications resulted in eight more operations and she was out of action for almost eight months. She returned to training two months before the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. After the Games, she had another operation and was back training in January 2013. (theherald.com.au, 28 Nov 2012, maitlandmercury.com.au, 16 Apr 2013)
She suffered internal bleeding at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing after receiving an injection of blood thinner to avoid blood clots on the flight to China. (adelaidenow.com.au, 08 Oct 2011) |
Awards and honours |
She was named the 1996 Young Paralympian of the Year by the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]. (paralympic.org.au, 18 Dec 2009) |
Impairment |
She has paraplegia as the result of a car accident in 1990. (abc.net.au, 10 May 2016) |
Other information |
BOSTON MARATHON
She competed in the 2013 Boston Marathon, which was the target of a bombing attack. After the race she was in her hotel room while her husband and coach Andrew and their son Charlie had left to get some food. She was unable to contact them immediately after the attack, and described that 15 minutes as the worst of her life. (NBN TV, 15 Apr 2013) |
