In 2021, Disability Sport & Recreation was gifted a sports wheelchair by Tom and Liz Tomlin, and their friends at the Orrong Park Golf Club. Known as ‘Zoe’s Chair’, the wheelchair was purchased in memory of their daughter Zoe Tomlin, who sadly passed away.
Now, the chair will be used to benefit a bright young star. Beau Amara, a wheelchair rugby junior development player, will be given access to Zoe’s chair which will allow him to make the most of his sporting journey.
Beau spoke about how he feels with the chair, the new experience that it has provided him, the confidence he has gained from it and how he has set his sights on representing Australia at the 2032 Paralympic Games in Brisbane
“I knew I was going to succeed in this,” Beau said.
“I was actually pretty excited about this new thing because I had never ever played [sports]… and I felt like this was the sport for me.”
Beau’s mother Rose also spoke about how life-changing Zoe’s Chair is for Beau, and how perfectly it suits him.
“It has been a gift in more ways than just the structure of a chair with wheels. It’s meant that he could access rugby, it’s meant that he could access wheelchair sports, it means that he can access a community, it means that he can access sport, and it’s helped him build his skills,” Rose explained.
“Being able to have a chair that fits him, that has been really important. That he can manoeuvre really, really well.”
Showing his gratitude to Zoe’s parents, Beau explained what having access to the chair means to him.
“To Zoe parents, thanks for doing this because without [the chair] I wouldn’t be able to do any of this,” Beau said.
The wheelchair is a gift from Zoe’s parents that has given Beau a new lease on life and will surely be able to help many other people with disability in achieving their sporting dreams, for many years to come.