Mel Harrison (Manual Chair User & Hard of Hearing) | #90

2 in 5 women with disability in Australia have experienced physical/domestic violence after the age of 15. That's 1.2 Million Australian's with disability who don't have the correct resources or support to get the help that they need compared with 1.7 million without. Founder of 'Sitting Low, Reaching High' and disability advocate Mel Harrison helped a service open the first refuge for women in New South Wales in March 2021 to help curb this statistic. Having a Spinal Cord Injury since she was 14 and being diagnosed as Hard of Hearing since she was 25, Mel pushes her limits travelling Australia, as the first Wheelchair User to compete in the 'Shit Box Rally', raising money by driving and camping across the Outback with very limited resources. Wait till you hear about the toilets... or lack of! But how far can Mel really push herself before it comes too much? Listen now to find out  Please note in this episode there is Discussion around Domestic Violence. If you do feel like you need support after this episode, please look at the following resources: https://www.lifeline.org.au/ https://1800respect.org.au/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sittinglowreachinghigh/ Website: https://sittinglowreachinghigh.com/ Check out our podcast on YouTube with captions here: https://youtu.be/8oSF0E_jBec Check out the new 11 part podcast series about Accessible Tourism: 'Accessed That' https://www.queensland.com/au/en/things-to-do/traveller/accessibility/accessed-that-podcast Join the 10,000+ legends on Instagram: @ListenABLE_ Podcast https://www.instagram.com/listenable_podcast/ Grab our first merch release at our website From Your Pocket https://fromyourpocket.com.au/work/listenable/merch  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.