Our keynote speaker for Showcase 2018 was Dr Jessica Gallagher. Born in Geelong, Jessica started to lose her eyesight in her teens; suffering a rare condition known as Best’s Disease. Not letting her ‘impairment’ get in the way of her sporting ambitions, and went on to become an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, and tandem cyclist. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to medal at both a Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
Jessica is also a qualified Osteopath and in 2018, was entered in the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
As our opening address on Day One of Showcase 2018, Jessica shared her incredible journey of sporting highs and lows. Her stories of hurtling down the side of a mountain – legally blind – and relying on her guide to get her down safely resonated strongly with attendees and reminded us of a similar and just as sacred relationship: the one between healthcare professionals and their patients.