Cody Meakin, (born 27 December 1989) is a wheelchair rugby player. He was selected to represent Australia at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in wheelchair rugby.

Personal

Cody Meakin was born on 27 December 1989 in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the small ...

. Growing up, he played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

for the

Casuarina Cougars ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fam ...

and Australian rules football with the Waratahs under-14 side. While playing

as part of a tackle during a

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * ...

, he broke his back. In 2008, as a high school student at

Canberra Grammar School , motto_translation = For God, for Church, for Country , city = Red Hill , state = Australian Capital Territory , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

he was in a car accident in

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termi ...

. In the accident, he damaged his spine leaving him with quadriplegia. In order to receive the best treatment possible for the injury, his parents made the decision to move from

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. Most of his high school classmates elected to walk to their year 12 formal in their formal attire, and donated the thousands of

Australian dollar The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isla ...

s they would have otherwise spent on transportation to help defray costs for Meakin's rehabilitation. In 2012, he was living in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Wheelchair rugby

Meakin is a 2.5 point wheelchair rugby player who took up wheelchair rugby in 2010 during rehabilitation for his spinal injury. In 2010, Meakin was a member of

Gold Coast Wheelchair Rugby Titans Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

in the

National Wheelchair Rugby League National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, and finished the season by being named the league's best new talent. He was still with the team in 2012. Meakin played in the Queensland 2011 Wheelchair Rugby State Championships. Meakin made his

Australia national wheelchair rugby team Wheelchair rugby is a sport with national representation at the Paralympic games. The Australian Team is known as the 'Steelers'. Australia has competed at every Paralympics Games since the sport gained full Paralympic Medal status at the 2000 ...

debut in 2011 at the Great Britain Cup. He competed at the 2012 Canada Cup where he wore shirt number 8. In May 2012, he participated in a test series against Japan in Sydney. He was the newest and least experienced member of the Australian national team in the competition. In the fourth game won by Australia with a score of 47 – 44, he scored two goals. He was selected to represent Australia at the

in wheelchair rugby. Going into London, his team was ranked second in the world behind the United States. Prior to departing for London, he participated in a national team training camp in

in late July. He was part of the team that won the gold medal. The Australian team went through the five-day tournament undefeated. He was awarded an

Order of Australia Medal 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 Go ...

in the 2014

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively in ...

"for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meakin, Cody Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Australia Wheelchair rugby players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Sportsmen from the Australian Capital Territory Sportsmen from the Northern Territory 1989 births Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby People educated at Canberra Grammar School