Remembering a winner called Ched
A note came home with Denzel today from his first day back at school notifying us that there is now a student in his class that has a life threatening intolerance to egg and nut based products. We have been cautioned and politely encouraged to ensure that meals and lunches be prepared with the safety and life affecting care for another. I wonder where and how these intolerances have come about? I do not recall a single episode in my life growing up where I had encountered one single person with this difficulty or whether I had even heard of such a situation. I am not suggesting I am un-symapthetic or even not supportive of ensuring Denzel's meals comply. That is a given. I am grateful that those intolerances are not a daily factor that affect my boy, in the sense that he and we cannot eat peanuts or peanut butter and such that we love and take for granted.
There are so many other things that I see now that I do not recall ever seeing. One of those things I can think of readily is the growing number of wreaths and floral tributes to those whose lives are taken on or by the side of roads. I do not recall ever seeing these as I grew. The statistics and stolid pre-pubescent and post pubescent hormones of late, seem to have little or no acceptance that road stupidity kills, and sometimes even them or their friends. It always happens to someone else...sadly we all know that reasoning to be flawed.
Another sad increase to me is the rise of the homeless. My heart still goes out to people on the street. People who slip through societies cracks. I feel for these people, I do not judge them, in fact at times I have felt like I am a hairs whisker away from them and hanging on a thinner thread. Life can sometimes "deal us a bad hand". I do not think everything in life or perhaps even most things, have any bearing on us as individuals at all. Sometimes things just happen, and when they happen with negative implications, all we can control is our action or reaction. I remember with fondness a great guy I came to know once called Ched Towns. Ched went blind. He possessed a gene from his Mother that only affects men and meant that as he got older he lost his sight. NOTHING he could control, it just happened. I asked him once what made you choose to be so outgoing, he responded and said "Craig, what choice did I have? I could sit there and feel sorry for myself and hate the world or I could move on, and so I moved", and grinned with his cheeky grin.
I would like to quote here from a letter that was submitted to the NSW State Parliament to allow Kane, Ched's son to carry the torch flame during the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Cheds place. It was passed and I saw Kane run in his Dad's place and felt tingles for his Dad, both then and now. I am proud to say I met Ched on several occasions and was moved by the increase in skills and abilities he developed as his sight was lost.To me, and to his family and the thousands who saw the documentary on this wonderful man, He was truly a Great Man. I am wanting to end the post with this letter and then a poem included in the submission to Parliament, simply to highlight the fact that with adversity comes a deeper understanding and strength. And this whole post has been about resilience and windows of opportunities that can open to us when we allow ourselves to see beyond the here and now . Not unlike the beam of light that passes through a glass prism revealing the breakdown of colours that all harmonically unite to give what we accept is a single beam of light, yet inwardly and much deeper is the individual aspects of character that are in a very real sense the fundamental building blocks of who we are.
The Hon. C. J. S. LYNN [10.46 p.m.]: Last week I asked the Special Minister of State, Assistant Treasurer, Minister Assisting the Premier on Public Sector Management, and Minister Assisting the Premier for the Central Coast representing the Minister for the Olympics a question about the possibility of Mr Kane Towns carrying the Olympic torch on behalf of his late father, Ched, during the leg of the relay through his home town of Penrith. Ched had been nominated and selected as an official torch bearer, but his tragic and untimely death on a Himalayan mountain in late January resulted in his name being deleted from the list. I would like to advise honourable members why Ched was such an inspiration to all those who had the good fortune to meet him and to the tens of thousands more who heard his story.
Ched was a graded footballer at Penrith when he began to lose sight. He was completely blind by the age of 19. He found it difficult to come to terms with his blindness. He got on the grog, took a swing at the nearest unfortunate at the slightest provocation, and got sacked from his job at the council. However, he still had to find a way of supporting his young bride, Judy. In desperation, he travelled to the United Kingdom and underwent a bizarre and radical bee-sting treatment in search of a cure for his blindness. Most could stand the pain for only a few weeks before giving up; Ched lasted six months.
He eventually came to terms with his condition. He realised that, while he could not do anything about going blind, he could change everything about his attitude to being blind. With the love and support of his best mate, Judy—and eventually that of his son Kane and daughter Carly—he set himself new goals and new challenges. He competed in more than 200 triathlons, including eight Ironman events. He developed a system whereby his wife, Judy, would swim alongside him and then he would ride a tandem bicycle. When Judy got a bit tired, Kane took over. Ched skydived from 13,500 feet and set a record for the world's first blind free fall from that height. He kayaked from Australia to Papua New Guinea, trekked the Kokoda track, and rode a mountain bike 580 kilometres across the Simpson Desert. He continually set himself incredible challenges. He competed for Australia as a Paralympic athlete.
Ched derived his income from being a motivational speaker. One man who heard him speak, Rupert McCall, penned a poem entitled "Me and Ched". It reads:
He sees a wall of darkness but behind it there's a light
He trusts that it will guide him through the struggle of the fight
There's a knowledge that behind the bad there's always something good
If nothing else his family who always understood
There's a happiness to be alive that grows as he gets older
It started when he took the chip and threw it from his shoulder
So if you see him up a barbed wire fence and obviously stuck
Wish him all the very best but never wish him luck
Cos luck is just an excuse for if he can't get up the hill
As steep as it appears to him he knows deep down he will
It may cause his legs to ache a bit his feet maybe to bleed
But the smallest opportunity is all his heart will need
And me well I remember how he made his presentation
How a blind made my laugh and how he gave me inspiration
And I won't forget the darkness that was taken from my skies
The day it took a blind man to open up my eyes.
Ched was a philanthropist: he donated his time to any charitable cause and gave a great deal of support to the Royal Blind Society. Ched's most recent and challenging goal was to climb Mount Everest and set the world record for a blind climber. He had trained on mountains in New Zealand and the Himalayas and died tragically on his latest climb at 6,800 metres
Ched & Judy with Ched's intrepid dog, whose name i have forgotten.
What an inspiration. I remember having a long discussion with Ched about his parachute jump and it was amazing, I still remember his passion and excitement. I honour Ched Towns in this post and honour his strength and love for life. I can still see his smile in my mind's eye. I salute you Ched! I would like to leave such an impression on the world and perhaps leave the part of the soil on which I inhabit a little better for having walked here.
CP
There are so many other things that I see now that I do not recall ever seeing. One of those things I can think of readily is the growing number of wreaths and floral tributes to those whose lives are taken on or by the side of roads. I do not recall ever seeing these as I grew. The statistics and stolid pre-pubescent and post pubescent hormones of late, seem to have little or no acceptance that road stupidity kills, and sometimes even them or their friends. It always happens to someone else...sadly we all know that reasoning to be flawed.
Another sad increase to me is the rise of the homeless. My heart still goes out to people on the street. People who slip through societies cracks. I feel for these people, I do not judge them, in fact at times I have felt like I am a hairs whisker away from them and hanging on a thinner thread. Life can sometimes "deal us a bad hand". I do not think everything in life or perhaps even most things, have any bearing on us as individuals at all. Sometimes things just happen, and when they happen with negative implications, all we can control is our action or reaction. I remember with fondness a great guy I came to know once called Ched Towns. Ched went blind. He possessed a gene from his Mother that only affects men and meant that as he got older he lost his sight. NOTHING he could control, it just happened. I asked him once what made you choose to be so outgoing, he responded and said "Craig, what choice did I have? I could sit there and feel sorry for myself and hate the world or I could move on, and so I moved", and grinned with his cheeky grin.
I would like to quote here from a letter that was submitted to the NSW State Parliament to allow Kane, Ched's son to carry the torch flame during the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Cheds place. It was passed and I saw Kane run in his Dad's place and felt tingles for his Dad, both then and now. I am proud to say I met Ched on several occasions and was moved by the increase in skills and abilities he developed as his sight was lost.To me, and to his family and the thousands who saw the documentary on this wonderful man, He was truly a Great Man. I am wanting to end the post with this letter and then a poem included in the submission to Parliament, simply to highlight the fact that with adversity comes a deeper understanding and strength. And this whole post has been about resilience and windows of opportunities that can open to us when we allow ourselves to see beyond the here and now . Not unlike the beam of light that passes through a glass prism revealing the breakdown of colours that all harmonically unite to give what we accept is a single beam of light, yet inwardly and much deeper is the individual aspects of character that are in a very real sense the fundamental building blocks of who we are.
The Hon. C. J. S. LYNN [10.46 p.m.]: Last week I asked the Special Minister of State, Assistant Treasurer, Minister Assisting the Premier on Public Sector Management, and Minister Assisting the Premier for the Central Coast representing the Minister for the Olympics a question about the possibility of Mr Kane Towns carrying the Olympic torch on behalf of his late father, Ched, during the leg of the relay through his home town of Penrith. Ched had been nominated and selected as an official torch bearer, but his tragic and untimely death on a Himalayan mountain in late January resulted in his name being deleted from the list. I would like to advise honourable members why Ched was such an inspiration to all those who had the good fortune to meet him and to the tens of thousands more who heard his story.
Ched was a graded footballer at Penrith when he began to lose sight. He was completely blind by the age of 19. He found it difficult to come to terms with his blindness. He got on the grog, took a swing at the nearest unfortunate at the slightest provocation, and got sacked from his job at the council. However, he still had to find a way of supporting his young bride, Judy. In desperation, he travelled to the United Kingdom and underwent a bizarre and radical bee-sting treatment in search of a cure for his blindness. Most could stand the pain for only a few weeks before giving up; Ched lasted six months.
He eventually came to terms with his condition. He realised that, while he could not do anything about going blind, he could change everything about his attitude to being blind. With the love and support of his best mate, Judy—and eventually that of his son Kane and daughter Carly—he set himself new goals and new challenges. He competed in more than 200 triathlons, including eight Ironman events. He developed a system whereby his wife, Judy, would swim alongside him and then he would ride a tandem bicycle. When Judy got a bit tired, Kane took over. Ched skydived from 13,500 feet and set a record for the world's first blind free fall from that height. He kayaked from Australia to Papua New Guinea, trekked the Kokoda track, and rode a mountain bike 580 kilometres across the Simpson Desert. He continually set himself incredible challenges. He competed for Australia as a Paralympic athlete.
Ched derived his income from being a motivational speaker. One man who heard him speak, Rupert McCall, penned a poem entitled "Me and Ched". It reads:
He sees a wall of darkness but behind it there's a light
He trusts that it will guide him through the struggle of the fight
There's a knowledge that behind the bad there's always something good
If nothing else his family who always understood
There's a happiness to be alive that grows as he gets older
It started when he took the chip and threw it from his shoulder
So if you see him up a barbed wire fence and obviously stuck
Wish him all the very best but never wish him luck
Cos luck is just an excuse for if he can't get up the hill
As steep as it appears to him he knows deep down he will
It may cause his legs to ache a bit his feet maybe to bleed
But the smallest opportunity is all his heart will need
And me well I remember how he made his presentation
How a blind made my laugh and how he gave me inspiration
And I won't forget the darkness that was taken from my skies
The day it took a blind man to open up my eyes.
Ched was a philanthropist: he donated his time to any charitable cause and gave a great deal of support to the Royal Blind Society. Ched's most recent and challenging goal was to climb Mount Everest and set the world record for a blind climber. He had trained on mountains in New Zealand and the Himalayas and died tragically on his latest climb at 6,800 metres
Ched & Judy with Ched's intrepid dog, whose name i have forgotten.
What an inspiration. I remember having a long discussion with Ched about his parachute jump and it was amazing, I still remember his passion and excitement. I honour Ched Towns in this post and honour his strength and love for life. I can still see his smile in my mind's eye. I salute you Ched! I would like to leave such an impression on the world and perhaps leave the part of the soil on which I inhabit a little better for having walked here.
CP
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