From double-degree to double-Paralympian, CQU alum aims high
Shae Graham doesn’t do things by halves.
The first woman to represent Australia in the fierce sport of wheelchair rugby, Ms Graham is part of the Australian Steelers team competing at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
It’s her second Paralympics, after competing at Tokyo 2020 – and her trailblazing has seen two more female teammates make their Paralympic debut alongside her, Emilie Miller and Ella Sabljak.
Ms Graham, who completed a Bachelor of Business/Arts at CQUniversity Mackay, has been in a wheelchair since she was 18, after a car crash left her with spinal cord injuries.
The accident meant the teenager spent eight months in hospital in Brisbane – time that was meant to be a “gap year”.
“I was planning to go travelling, but instead it was time in recovery and rehab, so when I finally came back to Mackay it was a chance to start uni, and get back to all the normal things I’d had planned,” she explained.
Graduating from CQU in 2010, the enthusiastic learner has since completed her Master of Information Management, and a Graduate Certificate in Teaching while working as a librarian in Melbourne.
“I developed my obsession with learning while I was at CQU, because I’d started off in a single degree then swapped to double, and it just snowballed from there,” she said.
“Especially before I got back into playing sport, study definitely tapped into my competitive side!
“Especially through Melbourne’s lockdowns, and the delays to the Tokyo Olympics, being stuck at home and not being able to work was driving me crazy, so getting back into study made a huge difference.”
Ms Graham first took on wheelchair rugby in 2014.
“I got my first sports chair, and straight away loved it – the game is highly strategic, and ridiculously fun and fast paced,” she said.
“It got my skills to a point where I wanted to play for Australia, and I’ve been on the national squad for two and a half years, and spent all of 2019 travelling the world and playing.”
Since coming fourth in Tokyo, the Steelers rebounded with a world title in 2022, and will face the United Kingdom, France and Denmark across the opening days of the Paris Paralympics, held from August 28 - September 8.
Ms Graham still has family in Mackay, and she says they’ve followed her career eagerly – and with a bit of ‘told you so!’, after it was a family bet that prompted her to take to the field.
“My brother doesn’t let me forget it was because of him I got into the sport!” she laughed.
“But it’s a good lesson, not to let things hold you back, even if it’s your own stubbornness.
“You never know when you’ll find your next big passion!”
