Janine Shepherd

Janine Shepherd is a person of incredible strength and courage.

A champion cross country skier in training to represent Australia at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, her life was irrevocably altered when she was run over by a truck during a bike ride to the scenic Blue Mountains of New South Wales and was not expected to live.

Her neck and back were broken in four places, and her right arm, collarbone and five ribs fractured. her right leg had been ripped open, she had sustained head injuries and massive internal injuries. She had severe lacerations to her abdominal area and had lost five litres of blood. The bleeding alone was enough to kill her. Despite a remarkable recovery, she was told she would not walk again or bear children. Against seemingly impossible odds Janine fought back.

Coming to terms with her shattered Olympic dreams, refusing to believe what expert medical staff were telling her about her chances of any kind of recovery, Janine focused every sinew of her being on healing her broken body and crushed morale.

Her fighting spirit was rekindled watching small planes fly overhead. She made a decision: "If I can't walk, I'll fly." And fly she did. Within a year she had her private pilot's licence, her commercial licence, then her instructor's licence.

With amazing determination and fighting spirit, Janine not only walked and had two children, she returned to university and gained a degree in Human Movement.

Her story is told in her widely acclaimed book Never Tell Me Never, which has now been made into a feature film. In April 1997 she published Dare to Fly and in April 2007 she published Reaching For Stars. Janine is a motivating and moving speaker.

Janine is a warm and highly inspirational speaker who takes her audiences on a journey of hope, despair, shattered morale and personal courage.