Janine Shepherd
Janine Shepherd, AM, is an author, speaker and aerobatic pilot.
Her story reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie. An Australian national champion skier in training for the 1988 Olympics, Janine was hit by a truck on a bike ride, suffering multiple life-threatening injuries.Even if she survived, she faced the likelihood of life in a wheelchair.
Struggling to rehabilitate with permanent disabilities, Janine rekindled her defiant spirit in a dramatically improbable way. Seeing a small plane fly overhead one day, she declared, “That’s it! If I can’t walk, I’ll fly!”
And fly she did!
Her TEDx talk, "A Broken Body is not a Broken Person", has been viewed by millions. She is the author of six books, the most recent being DEFIANT, which chronicles Janine's extraordinary life -- from professional athlete to spinal cord patient to aerobatic pilot and mother of three, to bestselling author.
