Sara gives disability sector a much-needed leg-up as she embraces her ‘quirks’
Springwood resident Sara Shams is an above-knee amputee from birth, but not having legs hasn’t stopped Sara from going after her dreams: she is a disability advocate and leader, model, speaker, and health care professional.
Sara is passionate about increasing representation of people with disabilities and creating inclusive environments in Australia. From the runway to the boardroom, she is committed to redefining perceptions about disability, and highlighting how much people with disability have to offer.
She was born in Bangladesh with a genetic condition, tibial hemimelia, and her parents moved to New Zealand to ensure Sara received more advanced medical intervention that would enable her to live a full life.
Their move paid off as Sara is thriving in her own life. She’s also leading change for the Australian disability sector by motivating individuals and families to embrace their unique abilities. And it’s a journey that’s helping her to accept her own quirks and make peace with her inner critic.
Sara says as a child she hated her prosthetic legs, and she was happy to play on her knees.
‘In primary school years, I would run around on my knees and no amount of teasing bothered me,’ Sara says.
‘I had a supportive family and they always encouraged me to use the prosthetic limbs. However, I was quite prone to falls and it felt unnatural to wear them.
‘When I went to high school, puberty made me conscious, and I became quite sensitive to taunts and teasing like “no legs, no worries”.
‘My self-esteem was low during my teenage years, and as a young adult in university.
‘I tried my best to hide my disability by wearing long pants and stockings. However, people could still tell I was unique from the way I walked, and they would come up to me to ask if I was okay.’
After completing a Bachelor of Biomedical Science and Master of Pharmacy, Sara worked as a pharmacist, but she continued to believe she wasn’t good enough until a suggestion from her husband, Toby, made her turn a corner.
Toby suggested she start an Instagram account to post about her life as an amputee using prosthetic legs, and it made her question why she was hiding her truth. Through social media, she connected with others like herself, who were not only surviving, but thriving in life.
Sara says this empowered her to question her inner critic and start being the change she wanted to see in the world.
‘What am I hiding? What message am I sending to those who live with a disability?’ Sara says.
‘I then started to wear shorts for the first time in my life and embracing my differences, my disability. Being an amputee began to feel like my own superpower.
‘Growing up in the ‘90s, I never saw a woman of colour with missing limbs in the media, and the beauty industry doesn’t say someone like me is beautiful.
‘Representation matters so much. I had all those years of feeling unworthy and I wonder how validated I would have felt if I saw someone like me defined as worthy, beautiful, or influential.
‘While the media and fashion industries are moving in the right direction, disability representation is still not where it should be, and often tokenistic.
‘I want to see people with a range of disabilities represented on the runway and other industries. I also want to see people with disability in leadership positions, and an increase in their employment rates.’
‘There is a lot of capability overlooked due to disability, which is guided by an inbuilt bias. However, disability is the world’s largest minority group, and something that can impact anyone at any point in their life.
‘This is why I am working on being the change I needed to see as a child, and challenging ableist attitudes which lead to barriers for people with disabilities.’
Sara believes inclusive hiring practices and disability awareness training are important for organisations along with setting a quota to hire qualified, experienced staff with disability.
‘My dream is to create an industry where people feel comfortable to celebrate their differences – their ‘quirks’, but also be celebrated for their differences.’
Sara is currently undertaking a Master of Public Health, so she can help to develop evidence-based health policy and programs.
‘I have accessed the support of NDIS for a long time, and I appreciate what good, effective policy looks like through my lived experiences,’ she says.
Sara is currently on the Carers Queensland Board of Directors, and she is selected as a recipient for the national 2023 Disability Leadership Program scholarships.
She regularly models for Australian designers on the runway and for e-commerce sites. She is also an inspiring speaker.
Sara says she loves living in the City of Logan for its proximity to Gold Coast and Brisbane, as well as the multicultural aspects of the city – especially the variety of food.
Instagram: @nolegs_noworries
LinkedIn: Sara Shams | LinkedIn https://sarashams.au/
