Wheels up – Dave Jacka ready to soar
Former Paralympian and adventurer Dave Jacka today sets out for his world record challenge, to be the first quadriplegic to fly solo around Australia.
This daring flight will involve Dave flying to 21 rural towns and cities around the coastline of Australia.
What will follow is a four and a half week tour of regional and rural communities around the 16,000 km coastline of Australia.
Dave’s plane will cross the four most southern, northern, eastern and western points of the country, South East Cape (TAS), Cape York (QLD), Cape Byron (NSW) and Steep Point (WA).
“I’m excited to be heading off on this pioneering journey. I truly believe you are only limited by what you think you can do, “David said.
Dave was involved in a motorbike accident when he was 19. He broke the fifth vertebrae in his neck, leaving him with quadriplegia with just six per cent physical function. Dave has limited arm function, no finger function and an inability to move any part of his body from the armpits down.
“For me one of the greatest challenges was learning to get out of the wheelchair and into bed and into and out of the car on my own – that gave me my independence back.
“It took me 10 years to get my life back”, he said.
After his accident, Dave started the charity On a Wing and a Chair aiming to raise expectations of what people with disabilities can achieve and provide inspiration for people with or without disabilities to achieve their own challenging goals.
“I want to one day live in a world where people look beyond the disability, and only see people’s capacity to contribute and achieve,” Dave said.
Dave’s mantra is that with an open mind and determination, the impossible becomes possible.
The public can follow the flight via the On a Wing & a Chair website with a real-time tracker. Daily updates will be posted through a blog, You Tube, Facebook (facebook.com/OnAWingAndAChair) and Twitter (@wingandachair).
For more information go to: www.onawingandachair.org.au
For further information contact Sofia Dedes – Will & Word Communications 0432 347 933
Hey dude 🙂 Just saw you on the news 🙂 Cut a long story short, my step father is a paraplegic. He’s been in a chair 20yrs now. He was a security guard at Sydney Airport and an incident one day involving a nut case and a knife that led to him being stabbed in the back. (He received the Bravery medal for it) The daily struggles I watched him go though just to do the ordinary things that we able bodied people take for granted was heart breaking. And just like you it took a while for him to to get his life back but he never backed down, never gave up and he never showed how tough it was for him. He did what was needed to be done and never complained. He battled on and has done extremelly well for himself. It’s people like you and him that have been a major inspiration for a very large many of us to not stress the little things and enjoy life for all it’s worth. I think your a champion (a deadset legend) dude and I wish you all the best on your journey. Fly safe, be safe and continue to enjoy life. We only have one so we have to make the most of it 🙂
Damien Finlay.
G’day Dave
I was fortunate to meet you at Avalon Airshow and you were an inspiration.
Wish I could have had a few weeks off from work to fly with you on this
adventure.
I will be following you on live tracking, so best wishes and enjoy the memories.
Best Regards
Vince