Every competitor at The Sydney Royal Easter Show works incredibly at their craft whether it be cooking, craft or an animal competition. The chance to compete at this prestigious show is a highly regarded opportunity. Paris Kennedy is one of the young competitors in 2019 that showed how passionate and determined the competitors are.
“I don’t think she’s got this right” was 16-year-old Paris’s thoughts when she was came first in the ‘Best Ridden Palomino’ event in 2019 with her horse Silver. She had been working for a year qualifying for The Sydney Royal Easter Show however, she almost didn’t arrive at the event.
Christmas 2018 she was told that major surgery on her back was crucial to fix her quickly developing Scoliosis. Her back had a 52 degree angle meaning, her doctors told her she would need to have the corrected as soon as possible.
Immediately Paris told doctors that it would have to wait until after The Sydney Royal Easter Show. She was not missing out on her last year competing with Silver. She told me she had back pain during her preparation however, it’s hard to believe that with an angle so severe that she only had back pain. Scoliosis can cause muscles, nerve and tissue damage. It also affect energy levels. Personally, I couldn’t imagine training for a competition let alone a competition that is based on poise and posture whilst battling with these symptoms.
Three weeks after the competition Paris went into an eight-hour surgery. Doctors inserted two rods on both sides of her with several screws holding it in place. To do this they had to break her ribs and remove five centimetres of each rib. This straightened her spine back to a 12 degree angle.
Paris’ passion and energy is truly amazing and is something that is common with all the competitors at The Sydney Royal Easter Show. You can listen to my full interview with her here:
