Australian Paralympian Karni Liddell loses home and possessions in 2022 Brisbane floods

From the time champion Paralympian Karni Liddell boarded a plane in Mackay and landed in Brisbane, her entire life had been changed forever. “The water hit 1.2m in my house so pretty much everything is gone.

Rockhampton Paralympian Karni Liddell was on stage at an International Women’s Day event when she realised floodwaters which had taken almost everything from her had also claimed one of her most precious possessions.

Karni’s home in the Brisbane suburb of Hendra, where she lived with her five-year-old son Kai and which she rents from her parents, was inundated on Sunday, February 27.

She had boarded a plane in Mackay that day after attending her cousin’s 50th birthday party having been reassured by neighbours the house was safe.

When she landed at Brisbane Airport after the 90-minute flight, it was a very different story.

Her home, along with 74 others in the estate in which she lives, were flooded.

Karni Liddell speaking at the Premier's Olympics Breakfast at The Gabba last year. Pics Tara Croser.

Her parents’ car, which was at the home, was also awash.

Karni’s vehicle, which is fitted with a special hoist, was parked at the airport and out of harm’s way.

The house didn’t go under in the 2011 floods and it (the water) was a fair way from the fence when we got on the plane,” she said.

“There were no worries about the house but by the time we landed, it was under water.

“The water hit 1.2m in my house so pretty much everything is gone.

“The disaster recovery team came in over the weekend and deemed the house unlivable.

“Anything we could salvage, and there wasn’t much, has gone into storage.”

Karni Liddell was left with a huge clean-up after floodwaters inundated her Brisbane home.

Karni, who was born with a neuro-muscle wasting disease, is a disability advocate and was the National Disability Insurance Scheme ambassador for more than a decade.

She sits on the Premier’s Domestic and Family Violence Council and is a keynote speaker and disability employment trainer.

Karni’s electric wheelchair worth $35,000 was irreparably damaged by the floodwater, as was the $10,000 accessible bed she had just recently bought.

But she also lost a host of items that held sentimental value including paper clippings which documented her incredible rise through the swimming ranks which culminated in her representing Australia at two Paralympic Games.

“That’s probably one of the hardest things, knowing I’ve lost all of those things that can’t be replaced and that meant so much,” she said.

“I’m probably still in shock, I don’t really know what to think half the time.

“On Tuesday, I realised on stage when I was speaking at a Sporting Wheelies event for International Women’s Day that my first blue ribbon I won as an eight-year-old at a disabled sporting competition which changed my life and had hung on my mirror for 30 years was also gone.

The few things Karni Liddell could salvage after 1.2m of floodwater went through her home have been moved into storage.

“It’s just weird when you realise what you’ve lost; little things will come back to you and you’ll remember and it’s like ‘Oh my God, that’s gone’.”

Karni is incredibly grateful for family and friends who helped with the clean-up, which she described as “epic and all-consuming”.

She was also overwhelmed by the amazing financial support, much of which has come from Rockhampton, for a GoFundMe page set up for her by her best friend Nadine Lewis.

It has raised more than $11,000.

“I can’t say thank you enough. Know that you’ve all changed me from being a person who hated accepting help to a person that now understands what it feels like to accept help, need it and appreciate it,” she said.

Karni said the flooding could not have come at a worse time.

She has not been working since having major abdominal surgery in December last year.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Karni Liddell and son Kai.

One of her major income sources, keynote speaking, had been “annihilated” by Covid with most of the events at which she was to appear cancelled.

Her main focus now is to find suitable accommodation until her accessible home at Hendra can be repaired.

She is currently staying in an apartment given to her by the Aria Property Group for whom her brother Brent Liddell works.

“The rental market was already absolutely ridiculous before this and really, really expensive and there is not enough wheelchair-accessible units available and the ones that are are totally out of my price range,” she said.

“We’re trying to find somewhere because who knows how long the house will take.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get builders, assessors – there’s so much to be done before we can get back in there,

“I’m looking at six months, I reckon.”

Karni Liddell competed at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympics, winning a bronze at each of the Games.

Karni said that she was incredibly grateful that she, her son and their puppy Willow were safe.

The two medals she won at the Paralympics were at her parents’ home on the Sunshine Coast.

Karni was able to salvage two other items close to her heart.

One was a scrapbook of paper clippings that her Nana had made for her, which was found at the back corner of a cupboard.

The other was a ball made by her good friend and fellow Paralympian David Rolfe, who died in 2015. Karni said seeing her whole life underwater was heartbreaking.

She is physically and emotionally drained but there is so much more she has to do.

“Nothing about this is easy – everything is time consuming,” she said.

“I was on the phone to Centrelink for three hours for $400 – it’s just demoralising to be in this position.

“I’m a social worker and I’ve been through lots of trauma. I’ve had 30-plus operations but this has been a very, very hard experience.

“It’s something you can’t really describe unless you’ve been through it.

“Now it’s a matter of just one step at a time. Life doesn’t stop.”