Charlene Todman

Charlene Meade

Todman, left, with other members of the N.S.W. Society for Crippled Children in 1953.
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Charlene Todman
Born	1931 Sydney, Victoria, Australia
Died	11 September 2018(2018-09-11) (aged 86–87) Sydney, Victoria, Australia
Medal record Women's archery Stoke Mandeville Games 1951 Women's individual Women's table tennis Stoke Mandeville Games 1974 Women's individual

Charlene Stuart Meade (née Todman; 1931 – 11 September 2018)^[1] was an Australian athlete who became the first Australian woman to participate in the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor to the modern Paralympic Games. She finished second amongst women in the archery event. She would later compete in the 1959 edition in para-swimming, archery and javelin. At one edition, she won a silver medal in table tennis. Todman later became active in dog sports.

Todman was from New South Wales, and had to use a wheelchair following an accident with a horse when she was fourteen years old. She rehabilitated at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and later went on to volunteer with the N.S.W. Society for Crippled Children. In 2008, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her efforts in serving Australia's disability community.

Sports

Charlene Todman, Bunty Brooks and Pat Kingsford at a NSW Society for Crippled Children event in May 1953.

Todman was the first Australian to compete in the Stoke Mandeville Games, competing in the 1951 edition as a member of the Stoke Mandeville team. She was in Great Britain, where she was rehabilitating at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Todman was one of the first known women international competitors at the event, and competed in the archery.^[2][3] She finished second among women at that edition, finishing four points behind teammate, Rose Heath.^[4][5][6][7]

In December 1951, she was part of efforts to form an Australian team to compete against a visiting English wheelchair archery team. Prior to her departure from Stoke Mandeville, Ludwig Guttmann had promised her that he would send an English team to Australia to beat the Australians in archery.^[8]

Back in Australia, she demonstrated archery to patients at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.^[9] She would go on to compete in javelin and swimming in addition to archery.^[9][10] In this period, she also played for a Sydney-based wheelchair basketball team.^[11] By early 1960, she was trying to qualify for the first Paralympic Games in Rome but the birth of her daughter interfered with some of her sporting goals.^[11]

She continued to be involved with sports in the 1960s and 1970s as part of her continuing rehabilitation efforts.^{[9][3][10][7][12]} She competed at the 1966 National Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Games in Melbourne in archery, swimming and table tennis. Meade was one of five women making up the New South Wales team, with all seeking qualification for the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games.^[13] While raising her two children, she was swimming competitively in 1968.^[14] At the 1970 edition of the Stoke Mandeville Games, she won 7 medals.^[7][12] She also competed at the Royal North Shore Hospital Paraplegic Games.^[12]

Competing at the 1972 National Paraplegic and Quad Games in Holroyd, she participated in the final of the women's 4 x 60 m relay for the New South Wales team along with J. Stokes, C. Kirby and G. Milburn where they posted a time of 1:34.1 to finish in third. Todman finished fourth in the women's class 2 javelin event, behind Elaine Schreiber, Elizabeth Richards and M. Lester, who all set world records on their way to the podium. Competing in the pool, she finished first in the women's 25 m freestyle front class 2 event with a time of 31.8, ahead of third-place finisher Richards, who posted a time of 38.5 and behind Pam Foley who set a world and Australian record time of 28.0.In the Women's 50 m Individual Medley Class 2, Todman finished second with a time of 2:10.8 behind record-setter Foley, who posted a time of 1:56.0. Foley set another Australian record in the Women's 25 m Breaststroke Class 2 with a time of 33.2 seconds to leave Todman in third place with a time of 43.2 seconds. She had a third place in the women's 25 m freestyle back class 2 event with a time of 40.7 seconds.^[15]

Todman traveled back to England for the Stoke Mandeville Games in Aylesbury Vale, England, and won a silver medal in table tennis at the 1974 Games.^{[9][3][10][7]} Todman competed in the 1975 National Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Games in the women's discus, precision javelin and distance javelin events.^[16] Todman continued to be involved with sports on a national level in Australia until her physical condition deteriorated significantly.^[9] Todman finished her competitive career winning 26 medals on the local, national and international level.^[12]

Todman would later become involved with dog sports at the suggestion of a friend's daughter who is also a wheelchair user.^[3][10] Competing in the sport, she earned the Utility Dog level in obedience trials.^[3] She was presented with the 2016 Canine Hero Award by the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.^[3][17][18] Todman had become stranded at Centennial Park. Her Shetland sheepdog, Brook, rescued following her wheelchair having gotten stuck. The 11-year-old dog was her certified companion.^[17][18]

General

Todman was an Australian, born in 1931 in Sydney.^{[19][8][20][21][22][23]} Her father was Charles Ingram Todman, and her grandfather was George Todman. Her father served as an alderman in Strathfield. Her mother's name was Phyllis Stuart Pearce.^[24][25] Her family was well known for their sporting efforts. When she was a 14-year-old, she was living in Double Bay, New South Wales.^[26]

While working with her mother at the Tor Lodge in Bowral in 1946 during her school holidays, the 14-year-old was thrown from a horse while racing a friend from school. Initially taken to the local district hospital, Bowral Hospital, she was later transported to Lewisham Hospital in Sydney after her parents consulted with friends about the best course of treatment. The accident resulted in her spine being fractured at the T5 level.^{[26][3][9][10][11]} The hospital had no specialized spinal care treatment center and was run by nuns.^[9][10] Her first wheelchair was a wooden cane chair with wheels, and her rehabilitation options were few.^[3] After a few months in hospital, Todman returned home. Returning to school at Ascham School which she attended in 1942 and 1943 was difficult because the school was not wheelchair accessible. As a consequence, she changed schools, and finished her education at Correspondence School in William Street, East Sydney.^[9][7]

Paralyzed from the waist down, she went to Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England in August 1950 aboard the Orcades to rehabilitate for fifteen months under the care of Ludwig Guttmann.^[27][8][28] Todman turned 19 shortly after she arrived in the United Kingdom.^[28] Todman went to England with her mother, Mrs. Charles Todman, and a nurse.^[27][9][10] Initially, she was to have gone to thee Wingfield-Morris Orthopaedic Centre in Oxfordshire after her father met Lord Nuffield who invited her there. Her x-rays got lost enroute and the hospital determined her condition was not suited to the treatment they offered. At this point, she went to Stoke Mandeville.^[9] She returned to Australia in 1951, arriving in Melbourne on 5 December aboard the Orion.^[8][29][30] She returned to live in Double Bay.^[31] She had acquired a collapsible wheelchair, a Dingwall, in England, and took courses on typing. These skills and tools made her more independent. Todman soon found work at the Blood Bank in York Street.^[9][10]

Todman would later marry Eric Meade in November 1955 and have two children with him, Angela and Stewart. She met Eric at the Spastic Centre in Mosman.^[9][10][32] Meade was a polio survivor.^[10] Todman had children despite advice from Guttmann that pregnancy would lead to kidney damage.^[9] While Angela was delivered via cesarean, Stuart was born vaginally. His birth in this manner led to the process being written about in several medical journals as this was unusual it was for women with spinal cord injuries to give birth in this way at that time and she was the first Australian paraplegic woman known to have done so.^[10][14] Following the birth of her children, she got her first pet dog since before her accident.^[3] Her husband died in 1996.^[33] She has two grandchildren, Alexandra and Thomas, children of her son, Stuart and his wife Susie.

Todman was a member of the N.S.W. Society for Crippled Children, where she served as a committee member in 1953 and 1954.^[34][35][36] She was a Board Member of the Royal Rehabilitation Centre Sydney from 1986 to 2007. In this period, she served in various committees including the Clinical Care Review Committee and the Extended Care Planning Committee. She was a member of the Woollahra Council Access Committee. She volunteered with the Australian Red Cross.^[12] She continued in these efforts in later years, and in 2008 was award the Order of Australia Medal for them.^{[3][17][37][38][39]}

References