By Charlene Gatt
MEDAL fever hit Footscray West Primary School last week when Paralympian Esther Overton shared her extensive collection with Grade 1 and 2 students.
Exclamations of “whoa!” and “cool!” were repeated countless times as they handled some of Ms Overton’s 80 medals.
The 18-year-old short-distance swimmer, who will make her Paralympic debut next month, talked to the inquisitive crowd about her “special Beijing diet” and training sessions in the lead-up to the Games.
“I want to be the best at what I do and to do that you need to make the Olympics,” she said.
“I’m excited, and I’m not nervous yet but I’m sure I will be.”
Ms Overton was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita- a condition that sees all her joints from the neck down fixed and makes Ms Overton susceptible to broken bones.
She has broken her arms more than 40 times.
In the lead-up to Beijing, the swimmer has had her lung punctured by a needle and has trained with a broken arm.
The students presented Ms Overton with a good luck poster and a beanie kid.
