Ellery fights against the odds in pool

For Australian paralympian Louise Ellery, October6 will be a big day as she gears up for the F32 shot-put event and aims to win her first Commonwealth Games medal. Priya Mahindroo reports

For Australian paralympian Louise Ellery, October6 will be a big day as she gears up for the F32 shot-put event and aims to win her first Commonwealth Games medal.

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The 33-year-old recalls her greatest moment as breaking the world record in seated shot put at 2005 National Championship, Sydney. She has represented her country twice at paralympics - Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and finished 6th in both. But it took grit and determination to reach this far.

"I am madly in love with the band 'butterfingers' after meeting them in '98 in Brisbvegas. I fell in love with one band member but I can't quite remember which one, after having a near fatal car crash that left me comatose for an incredible five months - I am an 'elite athlete'," writes Ellery in the about me column of her blog.

Ellery met with a car accident in 1998 that left her in a vegetative state after being in coma for five months. "We thought that she would stay in a vegetative state always, but her zeal to live has brought her so far," June Ellery, mother-cum-coach said.

"We wanted her to recover and so put her into this sport as a rehabilitation programme in 2002 and she excelled extraordinarily in the discipline," added June, who had come to visit her daughter at the Games Village.

Ellery cannot communicate properly post her accident but that does let her spirits down in anyway. "I am happy to be a part of these Games. I am aiming for gold tomorrow and I should do well," said Ellery, as her mother translated her broken sounds. "I am happy about coming to India. This country is very hospitable and warm. This is like home to me," added Ellery, who was visiting the handicraft store in the Games Village to buy gifts for her friends back home.

For Ellery, winning at the Games is very important but she has her sights set on a medal at the London paralympics 2012. In Ellery, you see the courage to fight challenges and the determination to not rest until she has shown the world what she is capable of.