As one the few athletes across both track and field events, teenage athletics queen Jamie McInerney is a star in the making.

When Jamie was five years old, she acquired a severe brain injury from a car accident, resulting in a loss of speech and movement on her right side. More than a decade on and with much therapy, Jamie has not only regained some use of her right side but has become a national success in athletics.

After two years of rehabilitation following her accident, it was suggested ahe take up athletics as an ongoing form of therapy. She enjoyed it so much that she attended an APC Paralympic Talent Search Day in Mount Gambier while she was still in primary school and was encouraged to compete in school and Little Athletics competitions.

Through the help of her coach Cathy Lambert, who coaches Jamie via correspondence, she broke the national records for her appropriate age group across nine events including the U16 javelin (18.19m), U18-20 discus (18.89m) and U14 shot put (6.85m).

Years later, Jamie made her international debut at the 2011 IPC World Athletics Championships in Christchurch where she placed 11th in the T38 long jump and sixth in the 4x100m relay. She followed this up with a silver and bronze at the 2011 Arafura Games later that year.

Away from track and field, Jamie loves photography and playing with her dog Buddie. ‘Macca’, as she is affectionately known, is also a big fan of television show Greys Anatomy and movie Finding Nemo.

Jamie hopes to one day compete with her hero Kurt Fearnley at a Paralympic Games in her ultimate quest to win a Paralympic medal.