About

Lakeisha Patterson - or Lucky as she is most commonly known, is an Australian Paralympic Swimmer, Queensland, Australian, Commonwealth and Paralympic Champion, 6x World Record Holder, 6x Paralympic Medalist, 2x Paralympic and Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist, as well as an Order of Australia Medal recipient (OAM).

Lucky is fast becoming one of Australia's rising stars in Sport. But behind the caps, togs, medals and success, is a teenager with an impressive background story. Keep reading to understand the journey, trials and triumphs of a tenacious young lady, determined to break down barriers one lap at a time!

In the beginning...

"Water is my world! Chlorine is my heart, soul and home." 

Just before birth it was found that Lucky was in an unusual position in the womb and was expected to be born breach (backwards). Therefore her mother was due to have a cesarean for both of their safety. However an unexpected early and quick labour meant that there was no time to put all procedures in place to perform the C-section, and a natural birth was the only option. Lucky was born breach and blue, not breathing. Due to lack of oxygen she had a stroke after the birth, and required resuscitation and remained in hospital for a while before being able to come home. As a result of these early events, Lucky was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy left Hemiplegia (affecting let side of her body).

Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in childhood and is the result of a combination of events either before, during or after birth that can lead to an injury in a baby's developing brain. Cerebral Palsy affects people in different ways and can affect body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture and balance.

There were many challenges to face at a young age, but nothing would stop her! Lucky started swimming at the age of five as part of rehabilitation to manage muscle stiffness from her Cerebral Palsy. This hydrotherapy was incredible, and the feeling Lucky felt in the water was absolutely magical! Lucky absolutely loved the water, it was so freeing. Swimming helped ease the daily muscle pain and tightness in her body. Lucky was able to find something she loved, and was determined to see where it could take her.

Water safety was also a must in the family household, as we live in a country surrounded with water, it was essential that Lucky and her sisters knew how to swim. This became evident as her youngest sister drowned playing in the backyard pool (while supervised). Thankfully with quick action she was ok, but after that swim lessons were increased to ensure they were safe around water and they all developed a passion for swimming.

Lucky swam almost everyday in Learn to Swim with her sisters, and although they progressed much faster than her, she didn't mind as long as she was in the water. Ever since Lucky was little she has been very determined, so she kept trying and training hard to move up into the squad program, eventually joining her sisters. 

To find out more in depth about how Lucky developed from swimming as therapy to racing the world's best, read her career biography here. 

another challenge...

When Lucky was around five years old, her mother noticed that she was continually falling over, tripping, dropping things and staring into space - something wasn't quite right. After taking her to the neurologists with multiple tests, Lucky was also diagnosed with Epilepsy.

This is thought to have occurred from a bad batch of routine vaccinations for school, as five other people that went to the same place as Lucky to get their vaccinations and on the same day, all developed Epilepsy. However Epilepsy and other ailments are quite common with other underlying medical conditions such as Cerebral Palsy.