Col Mackereth
Mr Col Mackareth
Peer Support Worker, Spinal Life Australia, and affiliate partner of The Hopkins Centre
Col Mackereth is a spinal injury survivor, Peer Support Worker and Motivational Speaker. Col has over 41 years of experience living with a spinal cord injury, when at the age of 18, he sustained his C6 spinal cord injury as a result of a diving accident. After 11 months in the Spinal Injuries Unit, Col returned home to break the news to his parents, that even though he was unable to; push his wheelchair across the road, transfer in or out of bed, wash himself, dress himself completely, feed himself or prepare his own meals or do housework of any kind, he still intended to leave home and live independently! Just over a year later, after one of the steepest learning curves ever and a lot of hard work, heartbreak and sacrifice, Col found himself living back in Brisbane. “I was sharing a flat with a bloke that I met in hospital, doing all my own cooking, cleaning, personal care and housework, driving myself to work every day in my own car and getting my wheelchair in and out. I was also training with Sporting Wheelies when I wasn’t busy socialising with friends.” Col has not been unemployed since he returned to work in 1980. He’s been a goat farmer, draftsman, bookkeeper, adventure camp coordinator, maths tutor, statistician, and a manager at an employment agency. He’s even worked in a hardware store. “While I know I have achieved a lot in life already I believe that the best is yet to come. My life is all about what I am going to do not what I have done and I have great expectations for the future”
