Heidi Peters

Being a Paralympian was a dream I never knew I had. I lost my leg to bone cancer when I was 16 and believed I would never play volleyball, or any other sport again. I found sitting volleyball which gave me a whole new world of being an athlete again and finding a second family. After participating in the Rio 2016 Paralympics, I decided I wanted to make a difference by furthering sitting volleyball and sport accessibility at national and international levels. I returned to school to get a master’s degree in policy studies.

In my spare time, I do a lot of sitting volleyball presentations and demos. The message I convey to non-disabled people is… Equality is only achieved when individuals are fully understood in their wholeness. You can’t see me if you don’t acknowledge my disability, but you also can’t see me if you only see my disability.

Already I am making a difference through conversations with younger athletes, kids with cancer and people with disabilities. At the end of the day all my sporting accolades are not as important as a disabled person seeing me and feeling a sense of belief and confidence in themselves.