Marty Mayberry

In competition, he earned a silver medal in the men's downhill standing event, finished 24th in the Super-G, was disqualified from the slalom, and failed to finish in the giant slalom.

Following the games, he retired from skiing.

Marty Mayberry (born 9 February 1986) is a double leg amputee LW3 classified Paralympic alpine skier from Australia.

Mayberry lost both legs after contracting meningococcal disease when he was sixteen years old.

This experiences led him to study medicine, and he attended Griffith University and the University of Sydney where Mayberry pursued health science courses.

Beyond the classroom, he has written a paper on meningococcal disease, worked part-time on research about the disease, and talked about his experiences at a conference.

Having started out as an able-bodied skier, Mayberry took up the disability sport.

Mayberry was born on 9 February 1986, and grew up in Byron Bay, New South Wales,

where he attended Byron Bay High School.

He was back to competing at it on the disability side by 2004.

When fully kitted out, he looks like an able-bodied skier, and is capable of skiing faster than 110 kph.

He received support for his skiing from the Australian Institute of Sport, New South Wales Institute of Sport and the Australian Government Sports Training Grants program.

Mayberry has won medals at IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup events and the Paralympic Games.

He made his national team debut in 2005, and went on to represent Australia at the 2006 Winter Paralympics the following year, when he did not medal.

He made his Australian national team debut in 2005 at the European Cup Finals, and went on to represent Australia the following year at the 2006 Torino Games where he failed to medal in the four men's standing events he competed in.

He finished 33rd in the downhill, 21st in the Giant Slalom, 19th in the Slalom and did not finish in the Super G. Mayberry attributed his poor performance at the 2006 Games to his prosthetic legs, which "just didn't feel right during the speed events in Italy."

Following those Games, he worked with prosthetist Peter Farrand to develop new legs that would address the problems in Italy.

Continuing to ski following the 2006 Games, he earned a gold medal at a World Cup event in 2007 in Slalom, and earned a bronze medal in slalom event at a 2008 World Cup competition.

With the aid of a prosthesis, adjustments were made to his skiing legs, and he competed in several skiing competitions during 2007, 2008 and 2009.

By 2009, he resided in Queensland, and was living in Yeerongpilly, Queensland by 2010.

He relocated to Sydney with his fiancé to do so not long before the start of the 2009—2010 ski season.

During Australia's 2009—2010 summer, Mayberry was based in Europe and North America for training.

At the 2009 World Championships, he had a pair of sixth places finished in the Super G and downhill events.

That year, at a Spanish hosted IPC World Cup, he crashed in the giant slalom event and did not score a time.

He was selected for the Australian 2010 Winter Paralympics team at a ceremony in Canberra in November 2009.

Between then and the start of the Games, he participated in a few more competitions, including one where he picked up a gold medal, and participated in a national team training camp.

He was selected as Australia's flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

In June 2010, he married a woman he met at a music festival.

Following a high school ski trip when he was in year 11, Mayberry contracted meningococcal disease at the age of 16, and this resulted in double below the knee amputations.

He was in a coma for two weeks as a result of the disease, and, when he woke up at Byron Bay Hospital, learned his legs had been amputated.

One of the things that motivated him to keep going during rehabilitation was the opportunity for sports.

Mayberry studied health sciences at Griffith University, and medicine at the University of Sydney.

He went into medicine partly because of his illness during high school.

In August 2010, he was the opening speaker at the Amanda Young Foundation Meningococcal Conference, and in 2010 and 2011, worked part-time at the Kids Research Institute at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, where he was in contact with "Robert Booy in his research on the psycho-social impact of meningococcal B on families."

He wrote up his experiences in dealing with meningococcal infection in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.

He lives by Gandhi's quote "Be the change you want to see in the world".

Mayberry is an LW3 classified skier who competes in standing events using a pair of artificial legs.

Prior to contracting meningococcal, he was involved with skiing.

He was officially named to the Australian 2010 Winter Paralympics team in November 2009.

A ceremony was held in Canberra with Australian Paralympic Committee president Greg Hartung and Minister for Sport Kate Ellis making the announcement.