Video Transcript
Lakeisha Patterson: Hi, I’m Lakeisha Patterson, but everybody knows me as Lucky. I first started swimming when I was around five years old, and I initially started swimming as therapy for my muscles and to ease the pain from my Cerebral Palsy down the left side of my body. I first started swimming with my two sisters as well as at Bribie Island Aquatic Centre. And you know, being in Australia, we’re constantly surrounded by water, so my parents felt it was a necessity to be able to swim.
I’m extremely excited to be announced as a 2018 Commonwealth Games baton bearer. It’s such a privilege, you know, to have the games in your home country, in your home state and to be able to add on to that and actually carry the baton for the Moreton Bay Region and for Australia. It’s just incredibly humbling and I feel very honored to be chosen as a bearer and hopefully I can do Australia proud.
I was at home when I got the email, um, and I remember opening it. I saw that it was from the Commonwealth Games and I was really excited, hoping that it was what I was looking for. And then as soon as I saw the congratulations, you have been accepted, I was, oh, I can’t really explain it. It was just a rush of excitement and then I quickly told my mum and my sisters, who were all very excited.
These games will be the largest para-sport inclusion to date so far, so it’ll be really exciting. And for the rest of Australia to be able to witness that as well will be truly exciting, and I think everybody will love to see, you know, and witness these amazing athletes performing to their best.
Definitely for me growing up on Bribie Island in a little small community and being able to watch the games and be able to witness that in person, it’s definitely a motivator and it definitely drove me as a child to want to succeed and, and be like the people I saw on TV. So I think it’ll definitely inspire the young legends of our sports.