Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to acknowledge the courage and resilience of the inspirational young South West athlete Sean Pollard. As a young West Aussie man Sean loved football and surfing. He didn't think twice when he went on a trip to Esperance with his girlfriend, Claire Oakford, in October 2014.

On the morning of the Thursday, 2 October he went surfing at Kelpids Beach; however, his life changed forever. He was attacked by not just one but two great white sharks. Tragically, he lost his left arm and right hand. Remarkably, he swam 150 metres back to shore, and four people came to his rescue. He got to hospital within an hour of the attack. He was flown by the amazing Royal Flying Doctor Service to a Perth hospital. He had seven blood transfusions, totalling three litres of blood. He had over 150 stitches.

On a trip to Canada in 2015 Sean had a go at snowboarding for the first time. He took to it like a duck to water, and was approached by the Canadian para-snowboarding team coach. It was the start of a new chapter for Sean. He got involved in the sport when he returned to Australia and competed recently in the Paralympics in Pyeongchang earlier this month, where he finished fifth in his event. What a fantastic achievement and a great effort, seeing that he'd first seen snow only 30 months prior to that. What a wonderful testament to the courage and resilience of Sean Pollard.