Russel Fawcett

“My presentations are aimed at understanding that arriving alive is a conscious choice and that the awareness of 4 simple ideas - wear a seatbelt, don’t speed, don’t drink and drive and don’t drive if you’re tired, is central to this choice. Young drivers and passengers are often unaware of the tragic consequences of unexpected road situations combined with inexperience. We all have the power to increase our safety on the roads. Keep the odds on your side – Arrive alive.”

Russel has an articulate and captivating delivery to his presentations, with stories from personal experience and a message drawn from the realities of young drivers on our roads. His current work includes alpaca breeding and project management, and he has a history in finance, importing and business consulting.

He is highly supportive of the Roadshow concept as a program that has the potential to make a critical difference in the future lives of young drivers. Russel is a paraplegic as the result of a motorcycle accident in 1978 and a key point in the presentations is what a simple error in road safety judgement that led to such a serious injury.

Russel really enjoys playing wheelchair tennis or basketball and is has interests in philosophy and travel. His work has taken him around the world and he will soon be returning to university to study Bachelor of Science in Nanotechnology.

Michael Connell

“The message I want to send young people is you have a responsibility to yourselves and others when driving a car. A little bit of thought and care can prevent someone’s death or a life time living with a disability.

Please wear seatbelts, don’t drink and drive, don’t speed and don’t drive if you’re tired.”

Mick was in a motor cycle accident when he was 20 years old in which he injured his back (T8) and is a paraplegic.

As well as being a star Arrive alive Wheelchair Sports Roadshow presenter Mick is also a top grade Wheelchair Tennis Player and Coach. His achievements include representing Australia at the Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) Paralympics and winning silver for Australia in the doubles ( Atlanta, 1996).

Michael was an Australian Open Wheelchair Tennis winner in 1986, 1987 and 1989 and a runner-up in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994.

He also dabbles in Basketball and Archery where he has scooped up a few more awards!

John Wade

“As an active member of the ‘Road Show’ Presentation Team, I receive a great deal of personal gratification in knowing that our message may be responsible for saving someone from the trauma of permanent injury or death.”

John became paraplegic after a scuba diving accident in early 2004.

Last year John clocked up many Roadshow Presentations and loves the opportunity to interact with the young people, share some wheelchair basketball skills and talk about the dangers of risk taking on the road. As a young fella he played Rugby League in New Zealand and competition squash then tried his hand at baseball as pitcher for Hurstville United

During his free time you can find him very often at the Tennis court or on the Basketball field.

Additionally he is also interested in scuba diving, golf and at the moment he applied for a ‘Suzzi Duncan’ Scholarship, sponsored by Wheelies with Wings in order to attain a full unrestricted licence.

Richard Engles

“With the presentation I hope to make the kids realise they need to be careful out on the roads. And you only get one chance to live life in a sensible way. One wrong step and it could change your life in many ways!!!!!!!”

Richard is a very enthusiastic guy. He enjoys pretty much everything he does and never believes in giving up. Richard has Spina Bifida, a genetic disability from birth. One major part in his life is sport, especially Wheelchair tennis.

After playing wheelchair tennis since he was 10 years old, Richard was selected for the under 18’s Australian Juniors Team to play in a World Team Cup in 2005. The Australian Juniors came Runners Up.

Richard has also competed in the FESPIC GAMES (far eastern and southern pacific games.) in Kuala Lumpur in 2006 and won a bronze medal. In May 2007 he competed in the ARAFURA GAMES, DARWIN, where he won 3 gold medals. (singles, doubles and for the Australian team).

Richard is enjoying traveling around Australia and overseas to tournaments to improve his world ranking to hopefully compete in Beijing Paralympics next year and/or the 2012 London Paralympics.

Besides Tennis, Richard enjoys watching sports on TV such as soccer (A- League - Go the Mariners - and English premier league), basketball, tennis and cricket. Other interests include X-box games and the beach.

Darren Skuse

“The Arrive Alive Roadshow for me is a real buzz. The presentations educate the kids in such a way that they can actually see the results of what road accidents can cause and this makes it real for them. Students achieve a better understanding of the real consequences of speeding, drink driving, not wearing seatbelts and driver fatigue. My goal is for next time they are making decisions that contain these risks they may think twice about the choices they make” ”

After being diagnosed with bone tumor in his right leg as a thirteen year old boy, Darren had to suffer 3 years of intense treatment including chemotherapy and many operations before in December 1999 his right leg was amputated below the knee.

He never stopped trying to achieve high grades and so he was able to finish his Higher School Certificate in 2002. Then in December 2005 he completed a Bachelor of Science (Environmental) at the University of Sydney with a high credit average. As well as studying he worked with the Children’s Cancer Institute of Australia, who are a very big part of his life. Furthermore he is also a volunteer fire fighter with the Rural Fire Service in his hometown of Heathcote in the Sutherland Shire.

Since March 2000 Darren has become a very enthusiastic and successful Wheelchair Basketball Player. After first playing with the Wollongong roller Hawks, he has moved to the West Sydney Razorbacks where he was a key member in the Razorbacks National Championship victory in 2005. Then while being a member of the Australian U23’s team who finished third in the World Junior Championship in Birmingham in August 2005, he was scouted by the Head Coach of the University of Wisconsin Whitewater and was asked to go to the USA. Excitedly he accepted this opportunity to play with the UWWW Warhawks college team and will head off to the States in September 2006.

Besides Basketball, Darren is interested in Surfing, driving around with his mountain bike or 4 WD Driving and Camping.

Brendan Talbot

"Young people are our future. We have to provide as much support as we can to help our next generation of Australians. The MAA Arrive alive Roadshow is such a unique way to deliver a message to young people that there own decisions when being out on the road is vital to them living a full and active life without having to deal with the consequences of sustaining a serious injury and living with a disability. It's great to be a part of such a dynamic team"

Brendon was born with Spina Bifida, a congenital spinal cord defect. He has been involved with wheelchair sport since the age of 13 having represented NSW at junior level on numerous occasions including captaining the NSW team at the Junior Nationals in Melbourne in 1985. Since then Brendon went on play wheelchair tennis playing overseas in Japan and gaining selection in the Australian team at the 1994 FESPIC Games In China.

He is an avid sports follower and also loves to travel.

Tina McKenzie

“Presenting the Arrive Alive message to students is a great opportunity for me to be able to share my experience with students. My life changed in a matter of seconds and I live with the consequence everyday. The Arrive Alive message is important for students to understand the risks that are involved when driving on and off the road. Making the wrong choice of speeding, drink driving, not wearing seatbelts and driving fatigued may result in permanent injury or death. Arrive Alive Roadshow presentations aim to educate student’s awareness that a wrong choice may have a severe consequences.”

Tina’s paraplegia was a result of a ten-meter fall in 1994.

Tina is currently studying for a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Education at Macquarie University.

Tina has been a part of the Australian “Gliders” women’s wheelchair basketball team for eight years and has represented them at two world championships in 2002 and 2006 and the Paralympics in Athens 2004 where the Gliders were Silver medallists. Tina also represents the Knox Raiders in the Women’s National Wheelchair basketball League and recently represented the Wentworth Wheelkings in the National Wheelchair Basketball League.

Interests involve (when not training or at uni), hanging out with her dog at the park, basketball, tennis, water-skiing and reading.

Greg Brown

As a member of the ‘Arrive Alive RoadshowTeam’ I have learnt a lot about the issues that our younger drivers face when on our roads. It’s a tremendous initiative and one that I wish was around when I was at High School. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of talking to the students and a good feeling that the message we are delivering may help prevent deaths or serious injuries on our roads.

I became a paraplegic in 1990 following a motorcycle accident at just 20 years of age. Up until my accident I had always been an active and competitive sportsperson so I was keen to get involved in sports again as soon as I could following my accident. Whilst still in rehab I tried many different sports before concentrating on wheelchair tennis. I played this for about 8 years before it started to get to my shoulders and I decided to retire from the sport.

In 2002 I was talked into trying Lawn Bowls and I haven’t looked back. The thing I like most about Lawn Bowls is that there are no changes to any of the rules for Disabled Bowlers playing against Able-bodied Bowlers so we are literally playing on a level playing field. In my 1st full year of Bowls I won my 1st Club Championship, the Major/Minor Pairs Title, against all Able-bodied Bowlers. At this time I also began competing in Bowls Tournaments for Disabled Bowlers.

In early 2005 I won a Bronze Medal at the National Multi-disabilities Championships. Later that year I finished 4th outright at the NSW State Championships which resulted in my selection in the NSW State Team to compete at the National Multi-disability Championships in Melbourne. I also won my 2nd Club Championship in the Minor Singles. NSW went on to win the National Title and I was then chosen to represent Australia in Adelaide at the Tri-Nations Championships against New Zealand and South Korea. Australia went on to win both the Tri-Nations and Trans-Tasman Titles. I played in the Triples and Fours Teams at these Championships and won a Silver Medal in both events. This was the 1st time I had played for Australia in any sport, and a great honour it was, and all going well it won’t be the last.

Breanna Bunce

“Arrive Alive Roadshows are such an exciting thing to do. I get such a great feeling after I give a talk to the students knowing that I may be helping to save their lives. By giving them statics and personal stories about people who were their age once and who are now living life in a wheelchair really makes them think about what risks they want to take before they take them. I always try and get to them to understand that wearing a seatbelt, not drinking and driving, not speeding and not driving while tired will reduce the risk of them being servely injured”

I was born with Hereditary Spastic Paralys - another form of Cerebral Palsy. When I was 19 I found out I had spinal degeneration in my L4, L5 with hip degeneration and arthritis throughout my body. However, none of this has stopped me from trying to achieve my dreams! I have done a range of sports since I was a young child from able body hockey, soccer, volleyball and anything else I could get my hands on. However, my first love - swimming - took over and I have represented Australia at the Cerebral Palsy World Championship Games where I won 3 silver medals. I have also been to plenty of National level swimming competitions over the past 4 years.

I just achieved another love in sport by playing Wheelchair basketball. I play with the Hill Hornets and have just been offered a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in the States. I hope in 2012 I will be representing Australia in London.