My Disability Did Not Define Me

Growing up in Kariong, NSW, Dylan Littlehales enjoyed playing a wide variety of sports like other kids his age, however behind the scenes he was spending a significant amount of time in hospital.

“When I was born the Doctors said – he’s got four toes, we don’t know what that means yet.”

Littlehales challenged the doctors with his condition from a young age and underwent over 20 major surgeries to correct his limb deficiency.

His parents supported him to push through every challenge and he enjoyed playing sports such as soccer, swimming and touch football. He refused to let his disability define him.

““When I was 12-years-old, I had a broken leg and I ran the school cross country on crutches. So that was a very emotional day for Mum and Dad because it just showed that I was trying to do anything anybody else could do.

I think that was probably a big part of my childhood… showing that the disability didn’t define me and that I could pursue anything that I wanted to.”

#teamNSWIS Paralympian Dylan Littlehales shares his story in this week’s episodes of #NSWISLightsUp

Watch the full series https://www.nswis.com.au/nswis-lights-up/

One Series | Twenty Athletes | Five Feature Episodes