Fifteen-year-old Loxton school girl Eira Dalzell is set to wear the green and gold for Australia next year after overcoming a traumatic waterskiing accident three years ago that permanently damaged her hand.
It was a freak event that altered not only her life but her family's too — her mother, Claire Dalzell, became South Australia's advocate for Disabled Water Ski Australia.
Eira was practising for a national waterskiing meet on the Murray River at Berri with her sister Anwen on Boxing Day 2021 when they were pulled under the family boat.
The propeller hit Eira, damaging her leg and the fingers on her left hand, but after almost three tough years of rehabilitation and some modifications to her technique she has been selected to compete at the 2025 Disabled Water Ski World Championships.
Eira Dalzell took years to recover from her injuries, but she is back on the water once more. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)
"Both of the girls ended up under the boat and unfortunately the propeller … got Eira's hand and her leg and nothing else, which we were very, very blessed with," Ms Dalzell said.
Eira lost some of her fingers on her left hand.
"I didn't see it coming at all — it just happened," she said.
"It was pretty traumatising."
Eira lost some fingers, but her mum says her accident could have been more serious. (ABC Riverland: Shannon Pearce)
Finding a way to hold on
Water-skiing has always been a popular pastime for the Dalzell family and Eira and her siblings took up the sport at a young age.
Her parents were worried she might not be able to take part in the activities she loved after the accident.
"Eira's always been very active and very into local sports — local basketball and also a footy player out at Loxton North, as well as her skiing," Ms Dalzell said.
"We're probably just very lucky that she's persevered so much and can do all of those things, just in a bit of a different way."
Eira is back on the water and ready to compete at a high level. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)
Eira got back on her skis six months after the accident.
"It took a long time to figure out how to even get up out the water," she said.
"I couldn't even hold onto the handle but it was good to at least get out.
"It encouraged me to prove that I could do it."
The Dalzells love to get on the water at Loxton on weekends. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)
No footsteps to follow
Without many local waterskiers with impairments to look to as role models, the family set on a path of "trial and error" to find a way to make the sport work for Eira.
"Eira's the only person in Australia with an arm injury, or a hand injury that actually skis in those events," Ms Dalzell said.
"So there wasn't really anybody [to help]."
Her father Dan Dalzell made a wrist strap for Eira to help pull her out of the water because she could not use her hand to grasp the handle of the rope.
Claire and Dan Dalzell researched other disabled waterskiers and created adjustments for Eira's equipment so she could continue with the sport. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)
"He's really the one that who had her out there and just trying different things," Ms Dalzell said.
When Eira finally made it back out onto the water, it was a proud moment for her mum.
"[I was] pretty amazed really with it being a pretty traumatic accident and a long recovery," she said.
"Her siblings were still skiing … so that would've been really difficult, I think, for her to see and to feel OK about when she couldn't do it."
Claire Dalzell was very proud when Eira got back out on the water. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)
'There's just no limit'
Eira's mum has gone one step further from just being a supportive cheerleader from the banks of the river — she is also SA's representative for Disabled Water Ski Australia.
"I think it's important for us just as a family to support her, but also support the disabled skiing division, because there isn't a huge amount of people," Ms Dalzell said.
"There's wheelchair skiers and vision-impaired skiers and skiers with cerebral palsy.
"There's just no limit to what anybody can do, and I think that's the most important thing we've learnt."
The family's support has meant that Eira can dream even bigger than she had before.
"If I never had the accident, I would never be in the disabled team and I would never be going to the disabled worlds or anything, so it's kind of opened up a lot," she said.
"A good thing came out of it."
Eira will be competing in the 2025 Disabled Water Ski World Championships at Mulwala, New South Wales from November 27 to November 30.
This piece was commissioned as part of the ABC's coverage and recognition of International Day of People with Disability.