JOANY'S JOURNEY

THIS AUSSIE ATHLETE IS SPREADING THE WORD TO HELP OTHERS OVERCOME ADVERSITY

- Jodie Wolf

When Joany Badenhorst lost her leg as a 10year-old in a freak tractor accident on her family’s farm in South Africa, suddenly people started treating her differently – and she couldn’t understand why. People in the remote town where she lived were not used to living with people who had disabilities.

“I lost so many friends, people would avoid eye contact in the street,” the 27year-old, who lives in Sydney, explains to WHO. “As a pre-pubescent girl, you’ve got enough going on. You’re just trying to find your future husband! It was really, really difficult for me to grasp.”

Badenhorst says that she was “just genuinely grateful to be alive” after the accident and made her peace with losing her leg from the moment it happened.

Her family migrated to Australia to afford her medical care and over the past 17 years she has proven to the world just how strong she is, both mentally and physically, by becoming the first Australian female para snowboarder to make the Aussie team in the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic Games.