AustLit

'A car accident at three years of age resulted in a spinal injury that put him in a wheelchair. So any dreams that Ian Simpson might have had of being a stand-up comedian were not going to be fully realised - at least not the 'stand-up' part. But this Paralympian and history teacher has never believed in taking himself seriously, and in his new memoir, Rolling with the Punches, Ian writes of the different perspective on life that his view from a wheelchair has given him. In the first extract below he tells of his life in hospital as a three-year-old a few weeks after the accident, and in the second extract he recounts his childhood attempts to get involved in sport, despite the obstacles.' (Publication abstract)