Kenneth "Ken" James Moran,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(27 February 1925 – 6 August 2009) was an Australian Paralympic lawn bowler. He won a silver medal in the Men's Pairs at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes ...

Personal

Moran was born in the Queensland town of Beaudesert on 27 February 1925, the sixth of eight children of Tom and Johanna Moran. He grew up on the family farm during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and had a busy and active young life which included farm duties, schooling and playing tennis and cricket. At age 14, he left school to work full-time on the farm to help support his family during the difficult economic times. While playing a representative cricket match in February 1945, he experienced serious physical symptoms - a sudden but lasting dizziness, loss of balance and inability to focus - that forced him to retire from the match. Within a couple of days, he was diagnosed with polio and spent the next two years in a polio ward at the

Royal Brisbane Hospital The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a tertiary public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by Metro North Health, part of the Queensland Health network. The hospital has 929 be ...

. When he was finally discharged, he spent a year with an uncle in Brisbane, managing his own rehabilitation and transition to life in a wheelchair before returning to Beaudesert. He studied accounting by correspondence and worked in the field, and began a lifelong involvement in community work.

Sport

Moran took up table tennis and lawn bowls to keep active, playing against and alongside able-bodied players. He won a bronze medal in table tennis at the

1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games The fourth Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held in Dunedin, New Zealand from 13 to 19 January 1974. The Games were opened by Sir Denis Blundell, Governor-General of New Zealand. Participating nations The competing countries and competitors ...

in Dunedin, New Zealand. He won a silver medal in the men's lawn bowls pairs with Wayne Lewis at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics.

Recognition

In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1986 Moran was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for ''service to the community and paraplegic sport''. On 16 September 2010, the Ken Moran Life Centre was officially opened in Beaudesert.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Ken 1925 births 2009 deaths Australian male bowls players Paralympic lawn bowls players for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in lawn bowls Lawn bowls players at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors People with paraplegia Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland People from Beaudesert, Queensland