Wayne’s road trip celebrates the culmination of a busy year for safety program

Brisbane’s Wayne Leo will spend more than 25 hours driving while travelling more than 3,000 kilometres in five days to inspire North West Queensland children to stay safe and injury free.

As a founding member of the Spinal Education Awareness Team (SEAT) program, Wayne has shared his experience of sustaining a spinal cord injury with more than 250,000 Queensland school children in the past 23 years.

Next Monday (21 June), Wayne will begin his road trip from Townsville where he will inspire children from Homestead State School.

Wayne’s busy itinerary then includes stops at schools in Julia Creek (22 June), Cloncurry (22 and 23 June), Karumba (24 June) and Normanton (both 25 June).

In total, Wayne will speak to 725 students at five schools, including children from Prep to Year 7 at Julia Creek State School.

School Principal Damien Pinches said Wayne’s story would reinforce to the children the need for safety, particularly on the roads.

“It’s important our students realise how easy it is to sustain a permanent injury,” he said.

“I’m sure it will be an eye-opening presentation for our school’s 60 students, many of who may have not someone who uses a wheelchair before.”

Wayne’s road trip coincides with a record breaking financial year for the 16 presenters who make up the program.

Between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2010, the presenters – men and women who have either quadriplegia or paraplegia – will have inspired an incredible 109,382 Queensland school children.

This achievement is thanks to a generous major sponsorship by BHP Billiton Cannington Mine.

The Mine’s $575,000 support over four years, in addition to other sponsors the Queensland Government and the RBSM Foundation means SEAT is fully funded and is available at no cost to all Queensland primary and secondary schools.

The Mine’s sponsorship began on 1 July last year and runs until 30 June 2013, with more than 400,000 students expected to view a free presentation in that period.

Wayne said the past year had been one of the busiest and most exciting on record. He said he particularly enjoyed travelling to regional schools, because they often missed out on programs due to their remoteness.

“It doesn’t matter if a school has 10 students or 1,000, they all need to hear the same safety messages that could prevent them from a lifelong injury,” Wayne said.

BHP Billiton Cannington Mine General Manager Bob Fulker said it was great to see the program reach schools all over Queensland.

“To have schools within the region near Cannington receive this type of education around spinal injuries is wonderful. It is very important to us that as many children as possible receive these types of safety messages,” he said.

As a service of the Spinal Injuries Association, SEAT has motivated more than 1.3 million Queensland school children to keep themselves safe.

As a service of the Spinal Injuries Association, SEAT has motivated more than 1.3 million Queensland school children to keep themselves safe.

To book a free SEAT visit, please fill out the online booking form at www.spinal.com.au or phone (07) 3391 2044.

Issued 17 June.