Five-time Paralympian, Australia’s fastest skier, cancer survivor, comeback king
He is Australia’s fastest ever skier, represented Australia at five Paralympic Games, won dozens of international medals, climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and walked the Kokoda Track, he’s a champion cyclist and soon-to-be father of two.
But Michael Milton is also a two-time cancer survivor.
He lost his leg to bone cancer as a nine-year-old and 25 years later in July 2007 was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. On the brink of a successful cycling career, Milton thought his dreams of competing in his first summer Paralympic Games were finished but, over the next 11 months, he staged what is surely one of Australia’s greatest sporting comebacks.
In June 2008, less than a year since his diagnosis, Michael Milton was selected in the Australian cycling team for the Beijing Paralympic Games.
His story is the stuff of legends, his determination to win something to which we all aspire. He talks about facing his own mortality, prioritising his life, dealing with the cancer. His stories tell of his first day back on the bike after major surgery, of being bedridden for weeks after competitions, of not knowing when or if he’d be able to train again, of realising that he had a chance, a slim chance to ride in Beijing. |
