Lisa Franks (born 6 April 1982) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

from competing mainly in category T52 wheelchair sprint events. Throughout her wheelchair racing career she set

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, and marathon events.

Career

Lisa has won six paralympic gold medals. In the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

she won gold medals in the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m and a silver medal in the 100m. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

she defended her 200m and 400m titles. She was coached by

Clayton Gerein Clayton Gerein (May 24, 1964 – January 22, 2010) was a Canadians, Canadian wheelchair athlete, who won 14 medals in racing events at the Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2008. Born and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan,

who was a Paralympic medallist in wheelchair racing. The two were introduced by Gerein's wife who was Lisa's physiotherapist. In readiness for the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Lisa had taken up wheelchair basketball and was a part of the Canadian team that finished fifth.

Personal life

On April 18, 1996, just after Frank's fourteenth birthday, she woke up in the middle of the night unable to move her legs. By the end of that day she had lost function of her arms as well, though she regained use of those after rehabilitation. Franks was diagnosed with

arteriovenous malformation Arteriovenous malformation is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. This vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually cerebral AVM), but can appea ...

, a condition that caused clusters of blood vessels to prevent blood from properly passing by her spinal cord. She graduated from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 2006 with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

and a focus in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Regina in 2009. and appointed as an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2019.No challenge too great for Paralympian Lisa Franks
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Lisa 1982 births Paralympic track and field athletes of Canada Paralympic wheelchair basketball players of Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Moose Jaw Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors Living people People with paraplegia Canadian female wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)