With complete control of the basketball , Wendy Passfield zips around the court in her kitted-out sports wheelchair. The mother-of-two glides effortlessly around the opposing team, as spectators to the match erupt in applause. It has been 17 years since Wendy contracted a hospital ‘super bug’ — prompting the ultimate amputation of both her legs above the knees.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today And, despite a staggering 101 surgeries to try to control the drug-resistant infection, the future is likely to hold even more operations. The litany of surgeries began after a hospital accident which happened soon after the birth of Wendy’s second child, a son born by C-section. Health care workers trying to lift Wendy, whose lower body was still numbed, “dropped” her, resulting in injuries to her lower legs, the mum says.
During a subsequent hospital stay for surgery, she says she contracted an antibiotic-resistant infection. It’s this ‘super bug’ that has prompted years of health issues, as surgeons continue to try to control it. But on the basketball court, the now 48-year-old Wendy is a force to be reckoned with.
And, to children aspiring to be wheelchair sport stars like her, she is their biggest cheerleader. Wendy took up wheelchair basketball after noticing a specially designed wheelchair at the gym she was attending as she sought to regain her fitness . “It was the day that changed my whole life,” Wendy tells 7Life , about having spied the .
