A life-changing accident while at school turned Charlene Meade (Todman) OAM from an Ascham girl into a young woman destined to accomplish extraordinary things and make a profound difference to the lives of others, particularly those living with disability.
Charlene would become the first Australian woman to compete in the Stoke Mandeville Games—the precursor to the modern Paralympic Games. She was also Australia’s first paraplegic woman to give birth naturally. In 2008, Charlene received the Medal of the Order of Australia for supporting people with disabilities, particularly in rehabilitation.
Growing up in Double Bay, Charlene attended Ascham from age seven. Her friend and fellow Ascham Old Girl Judy Fudge remembers Charlene’s home as the ‘social house’ where friends gathered after school: ‘Often after school a group of us would run down the hill, cross the road and climb the driveway to Charlene’s home where she would be with her mother and aunty and, of course, a small dog.’ During World War II when war came close to home, 40 boarders and day girls including Charlene were evacuated to the Blue Mountains and Cooma.
At age 14, while in Bowral during the 1946 school holidays, Charlene was racing a friend on horseback and was thrown from her horse. The accident fractured her vertebra and left her paralysed from the chest down.
Charlene’s rehabilitation options were limited; care in Australia was much less specialised in the 1940s and patients were often bedridden for life. After returning home from hospital in a very basic wheelchair, Charlene was unable to continue her schooling at Ascham because the campus was inaccessible. She finished her education at the Correspondence School in William Street, East Sydney.
At the time, Britain was far more advanced in treating spinal injuries, especially under neurologist Ludwig Guttmann at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire. Dr Guttmann encouraged patients to exercise their unaffected muscles and learn practical skills so they could return to work and daily life. Playing sport was also a key part of his approach.
In 1950, Charlene travelled to Stoke Mandeville Hospital with her mother, where she underwent 15 months of rehabilitation with Dr Guttmann. While there, at the age of 20 she became the first Australian and the first known international woman to compete in the 1951 Stoke Mandeville Games, finishing second in the women’s Archery event.
After her rehabilitation, Charlene returned home to Sydney with a collapsible wheelchair and a newfound passion for sport. Her daughter and Ascham Old Girl Angela Meade (1975) shared with us that her mum often said her accident ‘made her a better person’ because she found strength and resilience, especially through sports.
Charlene went on to compete in multiple Stoke Mandeville Games and Paralympic Games in numerous events, including Para-Swimming, Archery, Basketball, Discus, Javelin and Table Tennis. Throughout her competitive career, she won 26 medals across local, national and international levels.
Charlene also carried the Olympic Torch during the Olympic Relay for the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.
In 1955, Charlene married Eric Meade. While their daughter Angela was delivered via caesarean section, Charlene went on to become the first paraplegic woman in Australian to give birth naturally when she delivered their second child, Stuart.
Later in her life, Charlene became very involved in dog sports and competed in obedience and agility trials. Her dog, Brook, was awarded the 2016 Canine Hero Award after rescuing Charlene when her wheelchair became stuck in Centennial Park.
Alongside her athletic achievements, Charlene was deeply dedicated to community service, beginning her volunteer activities while still a student at Ascham in the 1940s. After her accident and starting a family, Charlene became a longstanding board member of the Royal Rehabilitation Centre in Sydney from 1986 to 2007, serving on various committees. She also volunteered with the Red Cross. Her voluntary work contributed to her receiving the OAM in 2008.
Charlene passed away in 2018 at the age of 87. Almost a decade after her death, Charlene’s profound legacy remains integral to the recognition of the lives and achievements of Australians living with disability. We are incredibly privileged to count Charlene among our Ascham alumni.
Read our previous instalments of 14 Decades of Stories:
Pioneering feminist and first Ascham student Inez Bensusan
Brilliant scholar Ethel Lane Latham, who was the highest scoring female student in NSW in 1894 and 1895
Bessie Bundock, co-founder of Ascham’s yearbook, Charivari, which has become the School’s continuous primary historical record for over 120 years
Rania MacPhillamy MBE OBE who operated vast rest homes for wounded soldiers in Egypt during WWI
Mother and daughter Linda and Patricia Littlejohn, who smashed the glass ceiling in university and empowered women across society
Ascham Old Boy Lloyd Poulton, who was one of a handful of boys who were enrolled at Ascham early in the 20th century
Inspiring obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Joan Storey, whose determination and excellence opened doors for women in medicine.
