The second presentation was from Amber Meikle-Janney, who is one of the Support Group members. She gave an interesting talk about her experiences skiing.
Amber is part of the GB parasnowski development team, and she entertained us with stories about her training, her races and how she skis. Essentially, Amber sits in a rig which is attached to a single ski, and she uses her weight and arms to be able to balance and turn the ski. You can read further details on Ambers ski-ing on her blog: http://ambermeiklejanneyskier.blogspot.com/.
The point which I took away the most from this was not just Ambers excellence in skiing, but her determination to do what she wanted to do, when she wanted to do it. She has discovered an activity which she really enjoys, and she doesnt let HSP get in her way of doing this.
This approach was shown in the different videos which Amber included in her presentation, to start with Amber was seen turning and falling regularly, each time having another go. Over time it is clear that Amber has put a lot of practice in as in sucessive videos her skiing speed, balance and turning skills have improved, and this was further evidenced in the way which Amber described herself in each video, showing her confidence and her enjoyment from skiing.
This positive approach to life stands Amber in great stead, and she uses this approach throughout her activities. She concluded her presentation with a few examples of the other things which she gets up to, including developing her wheelchair skills so that she is able to get into as many places as she can and do what she wants to do when she gets there. She has also taken part in a range of outdoor experiences including boats, camp fires and hand cycles. She was also very pleased to show us a video of her latest wheelchair attachment - a motor, allowing her to effortlessly whizz along the road.
Amber is a great example of someone using a positive mindset to achieve what they want to do and having fun along the way. Excellent!
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