An Inspiration To Sing At Kart Nationals

29 March 2010

Six years ago Rhiannon Tracey was a teenager who enjoyed singing as a passion and as a young 15 year-old sang the national anthem at the 2004 National Sprint Kart Championships in Puckapunyal, Victoria.

With the event returning to Hume International Raceway this weekend, she will sing again, however, this time it is not just about the sounds that she produces but more so the steps she takes.

Rhiannon Tracey will sing the national anthem
at the National Sprint Kart Championships in
Puckapunyal, Victoria

Two months before her 21st birthday last year, Tracey was on holiday in Bali with her mother Sharon and best friend Rebecca when she misjudged the depth of a pool and smacked her head on the bottom. The impact left her paralysed with two broken vertebrae as she lied face down in the water.

“To begin with I was paralysed from the neck down, which very scary,” said Tracey.

Tracey was operated on in Bali before being flown back to Melbourne for further operations and has spent the past six months at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Kew, Melbourne.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair as she recovers from the injuries sustained in the accident, Tracey remains positive and wants to one day walk again.

After taking her first tentative steps last month she is focused on being ready for her rendition of the national anthem at Australia’s biggest karting event this weekend.

“I’ve been involved in karting for many years through my Step Dad and my brother, who used to race, so singing at the nationals again has really given me something to look forward to in my rehabilitation,” said Tracey.

The next step in her lengthy rehabilitation is Project Walk, a 12-month intensive physiotherapy program specialising on stimulating damaged nerves and muscles.

With limited places in the Brisbane, and recently opened Sydney, programs Tracey is aiming to head to the San Diego centre in America where she is determined to walk again, and get back to her old life as a vet nurse.

“I don’t give up easily and if there is a slight chance I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to make it happen,” said Tracey.

“It is a slow process, but I’ve already gone from being told that I’d never walk again to having taken a few steps.

“I’ve got some very supportive people around me and my Mum and Step Dad have been my rock, without them I don’t know where I would be. I am confident that I will get better and one day walk again.”

The National Sprint Kart Championships is the most prestigious single event on the Australian Karting calendar with over 350 entries being received across the ten categories being contested for the three-day event.

Competitors and teams will began arriving in the Goulburn Valley region over the weekend to start practice for the championships today. Qualifying will be contested on Friday April 2 followed by heat races on Saturday April 3 and the championship finals on Sunday April 4.

The Hume International Raceway is located on the Tooborac Road, Puckapunyal