Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this publication may contain images or names of people who have passed away.

I was born in Atherton Tablelands and we moved around because my dad was a cane cutter.

We spent a lot of time in Mossman as my mum is a descendent of the Davis
Clan from the Mossman Gorge.

In 1973, I started playing football before switching to boxing – that’s me on the left in the black and white photo (right).

In 1975, I won my first state championship and then won silver at the nationals when I was 17.

At the national competition, I asked what the two big trophies were on the official’s table.

They said one was the Edgar Tanner Trophy for the Best Team, the other was the Arthur Tunstall Trophy for the Best Boxer at the Australian Championships.

When I said it would be nice to win those trophies, they said I might win the team trophy but I had two things against me to win the best overall boxer.

I asked what the two things were, and they said, “for one, you’re a Queenslander. Second, you’re Aboriginal.”

So, my chances didn’t look good but I thought I was just gonna give it a go.

I trained hard every day, I got up and ran even when it was raining.

In 1979, I paid for mum and dad to watch me compete at the Australian Championships.

I’m so glad they were there because that’s when I won my second national title.

I was walking to show them my medal when my name was called.

I go up and they say I have won the Neville Bonner Trophy for the Best Indigenous Boxer at the Australian Championships and I got this photo with Neville Bonner (right).

I thought that was great and I went back to show mum and dad, and then they called my name again.

I couldn’t believe it when they said I’d won the Arthur Tunstall Trophy for the Best Boxer in the Australian Championships.

It took me four years, but I got it and proved to myself and everybody that nothing’s impossible.

Walking into the stadium in Moscow was a beautiful experience – all the teams, the crowd – the feeling was incredible.

Later that year, I found out I was picked for the 1980 Australian Olympic team.

I ended up losing to a boxer from Yugoslavia.

The decision was controversial, and the crowd didn’t like it, but that’s boxing and there was nothing I could do.

They say, ‘once an Olympian, always an Olympian’, and I will always have that.

I took a break from travelling and boxing and I never really went back competitively.

I got married and we had our two daughters and now we have beautiful granddaughters as well.

I started working at Caboolture Hospital in 2009 and work mostly in Mental Health.

I see a lot of people going through hard things in their lives.

Each day I just try to keep them happy and support them and tell them to believe in themselves.

I always tell them this is a nice place to sort out your mental health and take care of yourself, and then you have to go back out into the big world.

I tell them it might not be easy and it might be scary, but they can do it because nothing is impossible.

Have you got a story to share? Email ckw-engage@health.qld.gov.au.