This episode contains discussions about mental illness, PTSD, suicidal thoughts and a suicide attempt. Please listen with care, and if you’re struggling call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Bilateral below-knee amputee Lauren McDonough is learning to love herself and her body, but it hasn’t been easy. She’s struggled with treatment-resistant depression and PTSD since she was a teenager, and in May 2017 Lauren lost both her legs below the knee in a suicide attempt. Through her physical and mental recovery Lauren has learnt so much about herself and she’s now passionate about helping others struggling with mental health. We can’t thank Lauren enough for the bravery in telling her story, and the struggles she’s overcome, and we hope this conversation is helpful to anyone in our community struggling with similar issues. 

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When Nathan Borg became frustrated with the lack of characters on television who accurately portrayed his disability, he called Channel 10 and suggested a completely new character. Nathan, who is deaf and uses a cochlear implant, now plays Curtis on 'Neighbours,' Australia's longest-running soap opera. Nathan tells Dylan and Angus about being warned to give up acting when he was younger, how he can regulate what and how he hears with a high-tech app, and how the three create a master scheme to cheat on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire using Nathan's cochlear implant.

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Vision-impaired runner Jaryd Clifford boarded the plane home from the Tokyo Paralympics with not one, not two, but three medals around his neck, including silver in the 5000 metres and the marathon. Jaryd ran so hard he collapsed after two of his races, and made headlines when he made a teary post-run shout out to his Dad, who passed away earlier this year. Angus and Dylan were lucky enough to sit down with Jarryd a week before Tokyo to chat about why he took up running as a kid, what it’s like running with a guide and why winning a Paralympic medal is just as good as winning an Olympic one. 

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Wheelchair racer Madison de Rozario has won every kind of Paralympic medal except for gold, but she’ll be fighting to change that at the Tokyo games. She first took the international track circuits by storm when she won silver at the 2008 Beijing games at just 14 years old, before moving from sprinting to distance and soon winning the 2018 London Marathon. In this chat she tells Dylan Alcott and Angus O'Loughlin why she has to win medals to pay her Sydney rent, what it was like having a Barbie made in her image, and why she isn't defined by her disability. 

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Before his accident at 17, Jaimen Hudson’s greatest love in life was diving and surfing in the ocean. But when he became a quadriplegic in a dirt bike crash in 2008, he thought he’d never be able to go in the water again. Years later in a chance meeting Jaimen was introduced to drone photography and videography and since has taken beautiful images of the ocean and its animals from above seen by hundreds of millions of people. But he still dreamed of one day going in the water again, and in this chat Jaimen tells us about his audacious attempt to do just that, despite being unable to swim. 

You can find out more about his story in the documentary Jaimen Hudson: From Sky to Sea.

Instagram: @jaimenhudson

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Dressage horse-riding, or as Dylan says "dancing with a horse", sounds hard enough.. but imagine trying to do it without any forearms or hands! How do you hold the reigns?!?! That’s what 17-year-old Abigail Vidler does with the help of some special equipment, and she’s so good at it she hopes to compete in the 2024 Paralympics. In her spare time she’s also completing her Year 12 studies, getting her driver's license (yep with no hands)… all in the middle of a pandemic. Yeah, we feel lazy too. 

Instagram: @abigailvidler

You can learn more about Riding for the Disabled at www.rda.org.au

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RJ Mitte is one of the most famous people with a disability in the world, but have you ever heard of him? Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of three, he shot to global fame after playing Walter White Jr in the hit TV series Breaking Bad, a character who also had cerebral palsy. In this chat with Angus (Dylan is off doing something boring like winning Wimbledon) he talks about how he overcame bullying during childhood, why he sees his disability as a strength not a weakness, and how he deals with ignorant questions from strangers. 

RJs latest film Triumph is out now in Australia.

Instagram: rjmitte

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In 2013, Mandy McCracken felt a slight fever coming on. She didn’t know then she would soon lose her hands and feet and spend 10 gruelling months in hospital recovering rom Sepsis. Since then Mandy has been on a long and sometimes difficult journey learning to live as a quadruple amputee, and she now uses prosthetic limbs to walk, drive, garden and even rock climb. She’s also started a community called the Quad Squad where she connects with others in her unique situation. She’s learnt to love herself but still struggles to believe her husband can do the same.

Facebook: @InspireMandy

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Beth O’Brien never grew taller than one meter because of a rare form of dwarfism, called diastrophic dysplasia. In this episode she tells Dylan and Angus what it’s like shopping in the kid’s section, why her most useful possession is a stick with a hook on it, and why you should never use a certain word when addressing her. 

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Michael and Kassandra are the stars of everyone’s favourite TV show, Love on the Spectrum, which explores what dating is like for people on the autism spectrum. In this episode they explain what it’s like sharing their love life on national television, plus Michael gives Dylan and Angus some excellent dating tips. You can watch Love on the Spectrum on ABC iview. 

Michael's instagram: mr_a_plus_michael

Kassandra's instagram: glutenfreejellyfish_cosplay

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