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Robert Alexander "Sandy" Blythe, OAM (24 February 1962 – 18 November 2005) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He became a paraplegic due to a car accident in 1981, and went on to participate in the
Robert Alexander "Sandy" Blythe, OAM (24 February 1962 – 18 November 2005) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He became a paraplegic due to a car accident in 1981, and went on to participate in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team
The Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team is the men's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Rollers. Australia took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Paralymp ...
at four Paralympic Games, captaining the gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million.
It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...
. He committed suicide in 2005 at the age of 43 after a long illness.
Biography
Blythe was born inGeelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
on 24 February 1962. He grew up in a farm outside the Victorian town of Derrinallum and was a champion Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
player as a teenager. He played in the Teal Cup
The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...
and was later part of the St Kilda Football Club
The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league.
The club ...
country squad. In 1981, he began studying at the Ballarat College of Advanced Education
The University of Ballarat, Australia was a dual-sector university with multiple campuses in Victoria, Australia, including its main Ballarat campus, Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide that were authorized by the university to provide diploma, un ...
, but later that year, he was involved in a three-car collision that rendered him paraplegic. In 1984 he obtained his physical education degree on schedule, despite his six-month rehabilitation at Austin Hospital
The Austin Hospital is a public teaching hospital in Melbourne's north-eastern suburb of Heidelberg, and is administered by Austin Health, along with the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre.
History
The Au ...
.
He was part of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team
The Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team is the men's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Rollers. Australia took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Paralymp ...
at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, and 2000 Sydney Paralympics. He was the captain of the team when it won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games and was co-captain with Priya Cooper
Priya Naree Cooper, (born 2 October 1974) is an Australian world champion disabled swimmer, winning nine Paralympic gold medals as well as world records and world championships. She competed in the Australian swimming team at the 1992, 1996 an ...
of the Australian Paralympic team at the 2000 Sydney Games. He had an Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
scholarship in 1998 for wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...
.
Blythe was also a motivational speaker who formed and worked in several businesses that improved public awareness of people with disabilities. In 2000, he released a memoir, ''Blythe Spirit''.
On 18 November 2005, Blythe committed suicide; he had had depression and chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...
for several years. He was survived by his partner of eight years, wheelchair basketballer Paula Coghlan
Paula Coghlan (born 14 October 1965) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. She was born in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill in Victoria.
Coghlan was part of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team (Gliders) at f ...
.
Recognition
Blythe received aMedal of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 1997 for his 1996 gold medal. In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...
. The Sandy Blythe Medal, awarded to the best player of the year in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, is named in his honour. In 2010, he was posthumously inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blythe, Sandy 1962 births 2005 suicides 2005 deaths Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability alumni Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball players at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal People with paraplegia Sportspeople from Geelong Federation University Australia alumni Suicides in Victoria (state)