A wheelchair basketball champion and advocate for disabilities has died at the age of 34. Natalie Curtis made headlines for crawling off a Jetstar flight after refusing to pay to be wheeled off the plane and was known for being both a capable wheelchair basketball player and a strong supporter of disability rights everywhere.
Natalie was a famous figure in her home of Townsville and was both an athlete and a businesswoman. She owned Vital Supports and Supplies, a disability service provider.
Amazingly, she represented Australia in wheelchair basketball last year and was an avid activist for disability. The incident which put her on the news was when she was forced to crawl from the plane she had taken.
However, her life was tragically cut short when she died on February 5. The entirety of the north-eastern Queensland community is devastated, and the cause of her death has not been made public at this time.
Understandably, it’s a real shame that such a promising woman has died so early and she has left behind a young son. However, what’s arguably most upsetting is the fact that Natalie represented a unique part of the disabled community – one that was an incredible force for good that campaigned tirelessly to help people just like her.
Time and time again, so many disabled people find that they are not expected to excel in any area. The disability causes many people to earmark them for a certain type of life from the outset, which is ridiculously unfair. People like Natalie prove that you don’t have to be restricted by your disability, and not only did she excel in the fields she applied herself to, but she was also a fierce advocate for disabled people everywhere, fighting for their right to be treated equally.
As advocate disability support workers at Gold Coast, we are very saddened to learn of this great spark being extinguished so early. We can only hope that her family will continue to remember all the good she did and know that she was an incredible light for the disabled community. She did incredible things and left a gap that would not be easily filled.
We need more people like Natalie because they help us to remember that there are more things we can do to help in the ongoing battle to make disability seem less scary. She was part of a community of people that were giving hope to everybody, from those who became disabled through accidents and had seen their lives change to young people who are growing up with a disability and feeling like they can’t accomplish the same things as their peers.
Natalie helped to show us that, actually, anybody can be amazing, regardless of who they are or what they do, and we think it’s a real shame that she was ultimately taken from us too early. However, there are many committed individuals who will carry on fighting in her place, and we will always strive for a better tomorrow.