Ian Anthony Trewhella, AM (20 May 1945 – 29 November 2024) was an Australian Paralympic medallist in athletics and archery, who won four medals at two Paralaympics.

Background

In 1961, Trewhella became a quadriplegic due to an illness. He worked in the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

for 27 years, 17 years of which was with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. In 1984, he established the Wheelchair Factory in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. He was an advocate for people with a disability in Canberra and surrounding regions, having served on the boards and committees of many disability-related organisations. He provided advice to health professions and families on people living with quadriplegia. In 1992, he became a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

due to volunteer service to people with disabilities in the fields of sport, recreation and welfare. Trewhella died on 29 November 2024, at the age of 79.

Paralympic Games

Trewhella used a variety of aids and strategies to hold the recurve bow and arrow. At the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics, he won silver medals in the Men's archery short metric round tetraplegic and men's athletics Pentathlon 1B events. At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics, he won two silver medals in archery in the Men's Double Advanced Metric Round Tetraplegic and Men's Short metric round team 1A–6 events.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trewhella, Ian Anthony 1945 births 2024 deaths Archers at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors Sportsmen from the Australian Capital Territory Sportspeople with tetraplegia Members of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Australian male archers Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in archery Paralympic archers for Australia Paralympic athletes for Australia