Page 19 - Luce 2024

N ews a nd Events

Leadership Dinner

with Dr Jessica
Gallagher

On 11 May 2023 we were joined
by Dr Jessica Gallagher for our
annual Leadership Dinner. Each
year, this dinner is an opportunity
for the JCH community to hear
from an individual who has shown
exemplary leadership and achieved
great success in their chosen field,
or in Jess’ case, multiple fields!

Jess, who is legally blind as a result of a rare condition called ‘At any point in time during our lives we will all face our
Best’s disease, is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track challenges, the difficult and inconceivable moments that push
and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She is also a fully and stretch us beyond what we are trying to achieve.’
qualified Osteopath, Board Director at Vision 2020 Australia,
and an ambassador for several not-for-profit organisations, Jess’ address focused on the importance of trust – in both
including the Australian Paralympic Committee and Seeing Eye ourselves and others – when striving to meet our goals,
Dogs Australia. whatever they may be. Exhilarating video footage taken from
Jess’ helmet cam during her alpine ski training sessions helped
Blazing a trail and defying expectations come naturally to Jess. the audience to appreciate just how much trust Jess must have
She was Australia’s second female Winter Paralympian, and the in her sighted guide.
first Australian woman to win a medal at a Winter Paralympics
when she won a bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver games in Our students were joined at our Leadership Dinner by Year 11
the women’s slalom visually impaired event. In 2016, she stated and 12 pupils from Ballarat Grammar, Braemar College and
that her long-term goal was to be the first Australian to win a The Geelong College.
medal at both a summer and winter Paralympics or Olympics.
She didn’t have long to wait, winning a second bronze medal We thank Jess for sharing her inspiring story with us with such
in the women’s B/VI 1000m time trial at the Paralympics in Rio honesty and vulnerability, and the whole JCH community will
later that year. In 2023, at the World Rowing Championships in be cheering her on as she competes in the 2024 Paralympics
Serbia, Gallagher and her crew finished fourth in the PR3 Mixed in Paris.
Coxed Four.
Dr Eleanor Spencer-Regan
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing (surely one of the only sports Principal
that Jess hasn’t yet tried her hand at!). Back in 2008, Jess was
selected to compete at the Beijing Paralympics in long jump,
100m, shot put and discus, but she failed her classification test
because the classifiers said the eyesight in her right eye was
0.01% better than it needed to be. In November 2009, her
classification was revisited due to deterioration of her vision and
she was deemed eligible to compete. Later, in the 2012 London
Paralympics, Jess competed in the women’s long jump F13 and
women’s javelin throw F12/13 events, finishing fifth and sixth
respectively. She was disappointed with these results, having
suffered a severe tear in her meniscus during training that forced
her to use crutches in the month leading up to the competition.

It is overcoming these setbacks that has allowed Jess to develop
an uncommon resilience, self-belief, and sense of her own
remarkable potential. ‘What I’m proudest of is that at those
points where I’ve come to a block in the road ahead, I’ve been
forced to think differently, try something new and create a new
pathway,’ she said.

Her positive attitude was clear as she spoke about what her
vision impairment has taught and given her, not what it has (L-R) Back: Emma Weiser, Anouk Heidenreich, Bri Burgess
taken away. Front: Eve Gray, Dr Gallagher, Zina Maiza, Anya Singh

J anet Clarke Hall 19