The Cast

Rod

In 1942 a boy in New Zealand is born with no arms. The hospital staff give his mum two options: place him in an institution for life or leave him in the corner and they’ll say he died at birth. She refuses both and takes her baby home. He goes on to become a Lawyer, then a Judge and finally ends up running the very same institution he could’ve been sent to at birth.

Rowan

A boy is born prematurely to a deathly ill mother. She’s told he may never walk, let alone run. Mum dedicates her life to supporting him into an uncertain future. Then everything changes in 2008 when young Rowan sees the Beijing Paralympics on TV. Inspired, Rowan soon begins a strict training regime and in a few short years becomes a champion athlete, winning a Commonwealth gold medal and in 2016 achieves his dream of representing Australia at the Paralympics in Rio.

Michael and Liz

The Australian government introduces a new wage test for workers with disabilities. Michael, a man with an intellectual disability, takes the test and is deemed to be 14% as productive as a ‘normal worker’ and his pay is dropped to $1.78 an hour. Outraged, his 76-year-old mum takes the government to court. After years of legal battles they win their case and Michael, along with over ten thousand other workers, is finally fairly compensated.

The McLeods

In 1938 baby Jenny is diagnosed with “spastic paralysis”. The attending doctor deems that she’s impossible to educate and will die before her twelfth birthday. Her parents think otherwise and band together with other families to form The Spastic Centre in Sydney, Australia; now known as Cerebral Palsy Alliance. They become world leaders in supporting people with disabilities and transform the lives of thousands of children, setting new standards for housing, education and employment for people with disabilities.

Judith

Born with Cerebral Palsy in the 1950’s in “a one-horse town that’s still a one-horse town” Judith’s father refuses her Doctor’s recommendations to institutionalise her. Instead Judith’s father and the family relocate to Sydney to seek help and he teaches her to read in between double shifts at the Ford Motor Factory. Judith soon learns to talk and though she’s judged too disabled for high school a teacher urges her “don’t listen to them, if you want to do something, do it!” Judith takes that to heart and goes on to become an activist, amateur daredevil and a trailblazer.

Fin

Baby Fin is born with a myriad of problems and spends his first Christmas in hospital, suffering from seizures and covered in tubes. That’s a memory his mother will never forget. But, despite this difficult start to life, Fin is soon renowned around his hometown for his infectious grin and unswerving determination. His Doctor believes Fin will never walk or
talk but that’s soon proven wrong to such an extant that Fin becomes an overnight internet sensation when he runs in his school’s 100 metre race. Young Fin’s life is only just getting started and these days Fin’s mother believes “he will achieve whatever he wants to achieve.”
Art by Robbie Motion Copyright NDF Productions © 2020. Created in Freeparking.