Cory Crombie inspires SPPS students

The City of Albany proudly sponsored Cory Crombie, a para-athlete from Bunbury, to visit our school on Friday. Cory wasn’t always in a wheelchair, growing up he was able bodied.

In fact, he was an up and coming BMX star who was attempting a very difficult jump at the age of 14 when things went terribly wrong. He landed short on the jump and compressed his knees and flipped off his bike to land hard on his back – breaking 7 bones including his T12 vertebrate which punctured his spinal cord. It was a very slow recovery and he was told he would never walk again. Cory set himself goals and was determined to regain some mobility and he has managed to strengthen his legs to do minimal walking but he still spends most of his time in the wheelchair.

Cory’s competitiveness and love of sport lead him to try wheelchair basketball and his ultimate love, wheelchair racing. He competes at a national level in a variety of events ranging from 400m to the longest distance he has managed, an ultramarathon completing 62km.

Cory has an upcoming event in Switzerland which he is very much looking forward to.

After sharing his story, Cory taught the kids how to use the wheelchairs and then join in a game of wheelchair basketball. It was a wonderful interactive experience for our Year 6 students and staff who were all very inspired by his story.

Please click here to see their wheelchair basketball action.

Mrs Pangler