Essay On Kurt Fearnley

Imagine what it would feel like not being able to stand, walk or run? Then you would be following in the very footsteps of Kurt Fernley. Kurt Fearnley is an Australian Paralympic champion wheel chair racer. He has overcome many obstacles throughout his life, one of which is being born without the lower portion of his spine. This has left him without the use of his legs, meaning that he has been wheel chair bound his whole life. However, this has not stopped Fearnley from achieving great things. Kurt is a Paralympian who was born in the small town of Carcoar in 23rd March 1981. Some of Kurt’s achievements include: winning two silver medals in the 2000 Sydney Paralympic games, 2004 Athens Paralympic with gold in the 5000m, being recognised as

the 2009 NSW young Australian of the year and crawling the gruesome Kokoda trail. To accomplish these goals, Fearnley has shown great courage and in doing so has inspired others to live their lives to the fullest. Fernley has shown he has the heart of a lion and shows great courage.
Fernley took up wheel chair racing at the age of 14.

In 2004 he won gold with a flat tire during the Paralympics. This is showing that this man is very dedicated to his career. Kurt Fearnley was a courageous man because he tried very hard, all day, every day of his life, and because he did this with a significant disability trying to hold him back. Through his life he may have struggled, and he may have lost at some stuff but the one thing that this man never did was give up. One example is being beaten by David Weir. Fearnley won many gold, silver and bronze medals from his achievements as a wheel chair racer he trained and trained and trained until he could not train anymore. Even when he lost he kept going back and trying again. This man has tried very hard every day of his

life.
One event in which Fearnley showed great courage was when he crawled the Kokoda trail in 2009.

The Kokoda trail is a great achievement for any man to achieve. The Kokoda trail takes 11 days of bush, mud and wild life to complete. It is 96km and runs through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. This would have been a huge task for any man to complete, let alone someone of Fernley’s physical disability. However, Fearnley soldiered on through this jungle only using his arms to pull himself up and over rocks, rough ground and through rivers, creeks and gullies. Therefore he would have to have a lot of strength in his arms to be able to do this. Although he is very strong he still needed to have his friends and family by his side to help him. Four people died on the Kokoda trail even though they had legs so seeing that Fearnley was born without legs, this would have had to be one of his greatest achievements in his life. The Kokoda trail was also the scene of some of Australia’s bloodiest action in world war two. It also cuts through some of the world’s most difficult, rugged and treacherous terrain. Kurt Fernley’s role models that inspired him where the soldiers that fought in the war that were very heroic. Even though that Fernley had no legs and could have caught a tropical disease, such as malaria, because of the boiling hot, humid days and torrential rainfall but this man still soldiered on. Fernley is very brave because this trail is one of the most dangerous treks

in the world. Kurt Fernley may have soldiered on but he suffered blisters, cuts and wounds every day that he travelled.
In conclusion, Kurt Fearnley has been a very courageous man over the years and he has achieved many things. These things include: All of the Paralympics that he has attended to which he would have had to work very hard for, him crawling the Kokoda trail which is 96km long and takes two days to complete. By what this man has achieved in his life he is being a great role model for himself and others. It is also great because he is showing others with the same disability as him can also do great things and achieve great things just like he has done and shown to everyone. Kurt Fernley’s plans for the future is to go the last 1500m wheel chair race in the men’s T54 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast on a Saturday night at the Carrara Stadium track. After Fernley competes in the Commonwealth Games he will then retire wheelchair racing. Kurt Fearnley began to wheel chair race with the whole town coming together to raise money for a wheel chair.