Sometimes, you’re lucky enough to meet someone who’ll change your life in inconceivable ways.  My next guest (and now forever friend – whether he likes it or not) is one such human.

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM is a Doctor, Lawyer, Disability Advocate & Researcher.  And that’s just the start.  He’s also a philosopher & his astonishing memoir: Stronger: How Losing Everything Set Me Free is an opus of pure inspiration.

In a freak accident, three years into his Medical Degree, Dinesh sustained a spinal cord injury resulting in quadriplegia, affecting the use of his fingers, parts of the arms & everything below the chest.  8 months in hospital.  More than 4 years trying to come back to life.  Allow that to sink in.

And yet, Dinesh is a man of firsts…

• The first person to graduate medical school with quadriplegia in Queensland; 
• The first graduate Doctor with quadriplegia to begin work in the State; and
• The first visiting student with quadriplegia to complete an Advanced Clerkship in Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

But it doesn’t stop there … so be prepared to be even more humbled & awestruck…

Because in 2019, Dinesh was awarded an Order of Australia Medal & the third Australian ever to receive a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award in New York; a prestigious global honour that recognizes exemplary leaders in the disability sector.

Dinesh is also the 2021 Queensland Australian of the Year.  

As for the rest of his illustrious Bio, you’ll have to look him up yourselves, because his contribution to Medicine and Teaching the next generation of doctors is quite extraordinary and time doesn’t permit me to showcase all that this remarkable human being has achieved.

So who does this GIANT of a man look up to as his hero?  His magnificent mum Chithrani.  

This is one of the most superb conversations I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of & I can’t wait to share it with you. Get ready to mainline: Meaning, Purpose & Wisdom.

BUT BEFORE YOU GO…

Find out more about Dinesh here

Purchase Dinesh’s masterful memoir, “Stronger: How Losing Everything Set Me Free here 

Follow Dinesh on Insta here

Find out more about Tam here

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CREDITS:

Creator, Host & Executive Producer: Tammi Faraday

With thanks to my special guest: Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM

Audio Editor: Melissa May

With very special thanks to George Weinberg and Ursula Ferguson 

BRAVE JOURNEYS acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we record this podcast on, the Yaluk-ut Weelam Clan of the Boon Wurrungwho are part of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respect to their Elders, both past, present and emerging and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.