1. mivision• ISSUE 115 • AUG 16mifeature26
Dr. Jessica Gallagher will soon take off to Rio to compete
in the 2016 Paralympics from 7–18 September. A former
Paralympic bronze medallist in alpine skiing, this time she
is competing on the velodrome in cycling. Based on her
record-breaking efforts at the world championships in Italy
back in March, there is every chance that Jess, who is
legally blind, will come home with yet more medals.
writeR Melanie Kell
Never Say
Never

2. mivision• ISSUE 115 • AUG 16 27mifeature
Jess Gallagher was just 17 when she
received her diagnosis. It was 2003 and
she was in her final year of school. Every
afternoon, she would come home, close
the blinds and hide under her blankets. “I
was experiencing intense migraines, eye
soreness and increasing glare sensitivity,”
she said of that highly stressful time. “Over
the years I’d seen a few optometrists and
been given new prescription glasses but
they’d never made a difference.”
Jess had yet another vision check and was
tested for colour sensitivity before being
referred on to an ophthalmologist for
further testing. It was then that she received
her diagnosis: she was legally blind, with
peripheral vision but, less than 10 per cent
of her central vision and little ability to see
detail. Colour contrasts were a challenge.
All due to a rare genetic diseases known
as cone dystrophy.
“That diagnosis came as a real shock –
I’d figured I’d need glasses but I hadn’t
considered a rare genetic disease. I had
no immediate family history – and until
then I had been able to progress through
life without my vision really bothering
me. Whenever I felt the need to complain
(about my sight) I could always counter it
with an excuse - the teacher must be using
a bad marker, light was coming in at bad
angle; and so on.”
It was Jess’s mum who took the diagnosis
particularly badly.
“Mum took it a lot harder than I did – I
suppose I was at an age when I didn’t
really have a full understanding of what
it all meant. But because I had a genetic
disease, she blamed herself. We were told
it was degenerative, that it was quite rare,
and there was no cure, so there were a lot
of unknowns. We didn’t know how bad my
vision would become, how quickly it would
deteriorate, or how it would affect my life.
Mum was worried about how I’d be able
to move on, how I’d be able to achieve
everything I wanted to achieve from life.
Jess said as the years have progressed, her
mother has become comfortable with the
diagnosis, particularly as she’s witnessed
her daughter’s accumulating achievements.
From her own perspective, Jess said she
didn’t let the diagnosis hold her back. “I’m
very optimistic – I’ve always thrived on
challenges – so it didn’t really hit me too
hard and I didn’t really expect it to have
major implications.”
Determining Pathways
In fact, diagnosis came as somewhat of
a relief. “Being given the reason for my
headaches and eye soreness and colour
contrast sensitivity, was probably the
biggest thing for me – having an answer,
knowing what was causing it, I just wanted
to get on and deal with it, “ she said.
“probably the hardest
thing that I had to get
used to when I was first
diagnosed was bringing
my vision impairment up
in conversation”

3. “I knew I had to re-evaluate things and
the diagnosis helped me do that. Being in
year 12, I had been trying to figure out my
career path – I was looking towards law or
osteopathy – and so I decided that osteopathy
would be a great option because I’d be able to
use my hands. Law required intense reading
which would have irritated my eyes.”
For any young person, year 12 is a
challenging period. For Jess, completing
high school was just the beginning.
“To do my course I needed to move to
Melbourne to attend RMIT University so
there were all these questions surrounding
that – how would I go living independently,
I couldn’t drive so how would I get around,
how would I go attending practical classes?
An “incredibly supportive” family and
accommodating health faculty eased the
process with meals delivered and extra
assistance made available during lectures
when required.
Jess graduated with a Bachelor Applied
Science (Complimentary Medicine) in 2006
and a Masters of Osteopathy in 2009.
Social occasions, she says, have always
been a personal challenge – not that this is
revealed by Jess’ effervescent personality.
“I struggled socially when I was younger
and I still do. Because I have peripheral
vision but no central vision, when I walk
into a room I can see outlines of people but
I have no idea of their faces or what they’re
wearing, so striking up a conversation with
a stranger or finding friends in a room of
people can be difficult.
“When people meet me it’s not obvious to
them that I have a vision impairment which
is good because there are no stereotypes
assigned to me – people take me for who
I am. However probably the hardest
thing that I had to get used to when I was
first diagnosed was bringing my vision
impairment up in conversation.”
Sport is My Life
Jess says her passion for sport, “an incredible
thing that brings people together” has never
diminished. “Growing up, all I wanted
to be was just like my mum who played
netball and basketball. I wanted to represent
Australia and do my best – I love that I can
challenge myself and push the boundaries
of what I know and I still love that element
of seeing how far I can go as an athlete – it’s
taken me down a different path from the one
I thought I was on as a 15-year old.”
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympics
Jess became the first Australian female to
win a medal at a Winter Paralympic Games,
finishing third in the Women's Slalom
alongside guide Eric Bickerton. She won a
silver medal in the long jump and a bronze
medal in the javelin at the 2011 IPC Athletics
World Championships in Christchurch, New
Zealand; and in London in 2012, finished
5th and 6th in the Long Jump and Javelin
respectively, despite suffering a knee injury
six weeks prior. Jess achieved another bronze
medal for alpine skiing at the 2014 Sochi
Winter Paralympics in the Giant Slalom
with guide Christian Geiger.
Jess was on track to compete in long
jump at Rio until the event was dropped
from the competition schedule in 2014.
Having decided not to pursue alpine
skiing after 2014 (she wanted avoid
spending nine months of each year out
of Australia for training), Jess turned her
attention to cycling.
“I had always been interested in cycling,
so after Sochi, I was looking around for an
alternative event. As fate happens, Glenn
Doney, the Victorian Institute of Sport
Cycling coach saw me lifting weights at
the gym and asked if I’d be interested in
riding a tandem bike. My first time riding
he paired me with Shane Kelly on the front
as my pilot. I absolutely fell in love with
cycling from the first ride. I was hooked –
I loved the speed, the adrenalin rush.”
In 2016, Jess represented Australia at
the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
Paracycling Track World Championships
in Italy, and with her new pilot Maddie,
smashed the world record for sprint racing
and most importantly, securing her spot in
the 2016 paracycling team bound for Rio.
“The whole trip was my international debut
as a cyclist, and there was a lot riding on
it – I had to win a medal there to get to Rio
– if not, it was game over, so it was all or
nothing. Maddie and I only came together
last August so when we crossed the finish
line and realised we had won bronze in the
one kilometre time trial, we were ecstatic.
The next day was all about sprint matches
and we weren’t so worried about that because
it was not a Paralympic qualifier. However
both Maddie and I are power athletes and
we love sprinting, so without even realising
it, we broke the world record in our flying
200m sprint, averaging just over 65km/
hour, and clocking 11.045s. That day was
incredible, we won in sprint matches against
Great Britain who had won the two past
World championships – so to do that and
realise that we’d become world champions
– is something that we will never forget. The
whole experience was amazing and a big
motivation to get to Rio.”
Juggling Commitments
Landing back in Australia, Jess said it was
straight back to work, juggling her private
practice as an osteopath with 5am training
sessions six days a week.
“It’s hard, it’s a challenge but everyone
is time poor these days – we all have our
challenges. Being a Paralympian we don’t
get much financial support so I have to work
(to pay my bills and allow myself the ability
to compete as a Paralympian); that’s the
primary reason I practice. Fortunately, I love
my job and post-sport I believe it’s important
to have life balance, so maintaining my
osteopathic registration and maintaining best
practice is really important.”
Jess is also popular on the speaking circuit
regularly talking to corporate audiences
about her experiences as a Paralympian
cyclist and skier. She said the messages about
teamwork, trust and mindset which are so
pertinent for her Paralympian success, are
easily translated to the corporate sphere.
“As a cyclist and skier I work with an
able-bodied partner whose performance
underpins my ability to succeed so there
are many great parallels that people in
my audiences have never realised. I love
speaking and I do it as much as I can. It’s a
humbling experience to find that people take
the time to sit and listen to my story – and if
mivision• ISSUE 115 • AUG 16mifeature28
“I always say to them,
don’t worry about your
eyesight, just go out
there and give it a try”

4. mivision• ISSUE 115 • AUG 16 29mifeature
only one person takes one key message from
each presentation and that helps to change
their life, then that is an amazing thing.”
In 2010 Jess became an Ambassador for
Vision Australia, an organisation she
feels passionately about, having received
so much assistance from them, especially
when she was first diagnosed.
“There are a few organisations that are
close to my heart and Vision Australia is
one of them. Probably one of the hardest
things when you’re first diagnosed is to
work out how and where to find knowledge
about accessibility – I was in a whole new
world of low vision and I didn’t know
anyone in the same situation. A visit to
Vision Australia was recommended to me
and they were incredibly helpful – giving
me advice and knowledge – they showed
me technology, and the things that might
assist me in day to day life. Through Vision
Australia I have met some amazing people.
When I became involved in Paralympic
sport, it was a natural progression to take on
an Ambassadorial role with Vision Australia
– it enables me to meet with young kids to
tell them about being a person with vision
impairment – and to impart my knowledge,
experience and learnings.”
Challenges and Lessons Learned
Jess says her greatest learning in life has
been to gain an understanding of who she
really is and what makes her happy.
“I pride myself on discipline and hard
work so if I’m going to commit to a
project I need to immerse myself in it and
know that I’ll love it because I know that
that’s how I’ll get my best results.
“Success is driven by achieving personal
goals – for me, that comes down to sport.”
In her role as an Ambassador with Vision
Australia Jess is particularly keen to
encourage young people with low vision
to set out to achieve their own goals.
“From my perspective and experience
I think the most important thing is
not to put limits on what a person diagnosed
with low vision can or cannot do because
that establishes a really negative mindset.
“Personally, if someone tells me I can’t do
something, I’ll turn around and say watch
me do it – but many kids I meet with low
vision are too scared to try anything new.
They need to be given encouragement and
courage, so I always say to them, don’t
worry about your eyesight, just go out
there and give it a try.”
“and if only one person
takes one key message
from each presentation
and that helps to
change their life, then
that is an amazing thing”