Mick Ozanne was a football star in the making when an accident while partying at 19 saw his life take a very different – albeit similar in one crucial way, as he would later discover – turn.

After diving head-first into a shallow canal, Mick lay face down in the water unable to move or breathe. His mates rushed to his aid and rolled him onto his back, holding him afloat until an ambulance arrived. But the damage was done – Mick, having injured his C6 vertebrae, was a quadriplegic.

Devastated, he lost all hope of becoming a professional athlete. But fast-forward to 2020, and Mick is on the verge of making his Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Mick, who first represented Australia in 2013, has notched an impressive 100-41 win-loss record with the Australian wheelchair rugby team, the Steelers. This includes an unbeaten run to the …

Read More
Date of birth
28 April 1987
Sport
Wheelchair rugby
Past Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020

Impairment
Physical Impairment – Quadriplegia
How acquired
Diving accident
Residence
Wooloowin, QLD
Occupation
Athlete
Started competing
2010
First competed for Australia
2013
Sport career highlights

Winning the gold medal at the 2014 IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championship in Odense, Denmark

Heroes/role models

Ryan Scott

Disciplines

  • Sport: Wheelchair rugby Classification: 0.5

Social Media