Vanessa Low is an athlete, survivor and unwavering optimist. She is also a beaming mum-to-be.
Now 31, Vanessa has lived as many years since the accident that resulted in the amputation of both her legs as she did before it.
In 2006, when Vanessa was just 15, she was doing something as ordinary as waiting for a train, when, ill-fatedly, she lost her balance.
"I was actually really fortunate," Vanessa now says of the traumatic event.
"Because I'm still here, still alive and still living a really good life … and I now couldn't imagine my life any other way.
For everything that the accident took away, Vanessa has compensated for it with fervent optimism, determination and accomplishments, including Paralympic gold.
And it is that ambitious nature that is fuelling Vanessa to achieve her next sporting goal — competing in Paris in 2024, after welcoming a baby boy later this year.
Sharing a baby, career and similar pasts
The Paralympic gold medallist recently announced that she and her husband Scott Reardon, who is also her coach, were expecting a baby.
"I loved my childhood and I really want to make sure I can give my child the best possible start they can have in life," Scott said.
The couple credits their shared experiences — including hard times — as what drew them to one another.
Scott is also an amputee, having lost his leg in a farm accident when he was just 12 years old.
"I think it's so special that our adversities, our accidents, in a way, have brought us together," Vanessa said.
"It's a big connection that we've always had and being able to carry that forth into a different aspect of our lives is really exciting."
But there is an aspect of elite sport that Vanessa describes as being too slow to progress.
Elite sport missing the mark with support for parenthood
The Canberran said it was confounding that some people in professional sport assumed a woman's career as an elite athlete was over or impinged on due to pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood.
Vanessa said the lack of information within Athletics Australia made her feel as though there was no precedent for being pregnant and having a career as a professional track athlete.
She said she was unsure what the organisation expected or allowed when it came to training while pregnant, and returning to work postpartum.
Vanessa reasoned that if a woman could do something as strong as becoming a mother, then the transformative journey could only help to build strength in other facets of life too.
"What would be really helpful would be more transparency, and I think that was something that was really difficult for me when I discovered I was pregnant, because it was like, 'What's next? Who do I have to tell? When do I need to tell?'"
But Vanessa has never been one for sitting idly by, so she has begun helping Athletics Australia to develop its first pregnancy plan, which will provide specialist support for athletes who are expecting.
"We should be able to feel safe to do whatever we want to — whether that involves continuing on with sport or not, it shouldn't matter," she said.
Vanessa said, since discovering she was pregnant, she has continued working towards competing in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
As to what comes next for Scott, the couple discovered Vanessa was pregnant on the same day he announced his retirement from athletics.
"So, while I was getting asked a number of times, 'What comes next?' There was actually a very quick answer to what was coming next," Scott laughed.
Vanessa and Scott's son is due on July 1.
