Christina Vithoulkas is one of South Australia’s most followed influencers as she’s regularly seen posing for selfies, perhaps in her underwear, often in delightful holiday locations.

But one thing you’ll never see in Christina’s photos, not since September 2018 at least, is the 26 year-old on her feet. That’s because she became a paraplegic when a jump on her dirt bike went horribly wrong, The Advertiser reports.

‘I knew instantly I’d been paralysed’:

It was supposed to be a fun day back in the Riverland, with Vithoulkas’ twin sister, Irene, and some friends. Vithoulkas had been living in Victoria, working as supervisor of a traffic control crew at Shepparton, and living with her then-boyfriend (and later fiance) and his parents.

It was a new jump, in a new park in Morgan, and she’d never been on it before. On her first run on her Kawasaki 450, it all went wrong. Accelerating up the ramp she tells The Advertiser she was a little slow, and after soaring across the 55ft space, missed her mark.

What happened next was a shock.

“It was my misjudgment… I came up a little short, hit the top of the table top, and my legs were thrown up in the air,” she tells The Advertiser.

Off the bike, she landed on her head, and the force of the impact snapped her spine over so that her backside hit her skull. She was unconscious for about five minutes.

“I knew instantly I’d been paralysed,” Vithoulkas says of her first thoughts when she came to. “I knew I’d done a good job of it this time. I wasn’t quite, like scared or anything. I just knew my life had completely changed.”

According to the SA media outlet, Vithoulkas spent three days in intensive care with fractured ribs, a torn spleen, fractured skull, a neck fracture and various other injuries. She had 12 screws and two rods placed in her back. But a permanently damaged T5 vertebrae in the middle of her back left her a paraplegic, unable to walk but with use of her arms.

Transferred to Victoria’s Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre, she was determined to be their speediest patient ever. Vithoulkas was gone in seven and a half weeks.

‘I want to normalise disability’:

This determined spirit has always been a part of Vithoulkas. Growing up in a small vineyard in Barmera in the Riverland with her parents, Maria and Jim, and sister, she never let anything get in the way of her passion for riding dirt bikes on the family property.

“I’m very stubborn,” she says. “I lived and breathed it. I would ride three times a week, sacrifice my weekends and studies. Riding just took over my life.”

Vithoulkas even raced in motocross competitions and freestyle motocross, an individual event where riders at her level accelerate up a metal ramp, jump a 55ft gap (17.7m), and land on a dirt ramp. Crashes were common but still none were as impactful as that fateful crash in September 2018.

The other thing you won’t see is Vithoulkas looking sorry for herself. And that is because, despite the loss of feeling and movement below her chest, she doesn’t accept that her life is worse. What you do see, though, is more than you may ever want to know about the nitty-gritty of what it is like to be disabled.

“I realised that what I needed was to get back on the bike to make me happy,” she says. “That’s why I don’t regret what I did, because getting back on the bike was the best thing for me to get out of that rut.”

Her father was concerned. “My dad and I actually had this conversation about being paralysed – you know, ‘what happens if you end up in a wheelchair?’. And I was like, I’m not going to regret it. I’m doing exactly what I want to do; this is what makes me happy. And to this day I still have that same attitude. I do not regret anything, not even the day I went riding …”

Getting back on the road

She’d hoped to somehow get back on the bike, but while she can ride, she can’t be competitive with able-bodied riders. Drifting, she thinks, will give her a level playing field with other competitors – as well as get her heart racing again.

On the first corner of her first ride in a drift car, “I instantly knew that the feeling I got … was the exact same feeling I got on the dirt bike,” she says. “With drifting, I don’t have any expectations. But I know even if I’m the worst one out there, I will not stop till I’m at a competing level. If that takes me five years I’ll keep on going.”

Stubbornness is clearly a trait. It’s also helps maintain the positive attitude that sees her accident as a “blessing in disguise”.

“This was the best thing that could have ever happened to me because of the person I’ve turned into, the strength I’ve gained, the resilience, just everything about who I am right now,” Vithoulkas says.

“I loved that Christina before – she had a great life – I’m so glad I did what I did. But I want this Christina, this version of me. It’s just brought out the best in me and the way I live with my life and the way I go about my life. I don’t know how to explain it, I just live in a state of appreciation, to enjoy moments even more than I would before.”

Without the accident, she says she would probably have accepted a life that wasn’t as good as it could be. In a way she was paralysed mentally, unable to make changes, and the accident clarified her thinking.

“We service our cars every 10,000km, and I service my brain every week. What do I have to do this week to make me happier? What’s draining me, what’s not draining me.”

As Vithoulkas says, appearances can be deceptive.

Source: The Advertiser

In the wake of the latest lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of Melbourne’s Greek community have come together to encourage people to get vaccinated.

A collective of community organisations have come together to call and encourage our community to step up and get vaccinated.

The President of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) Bill Papastergiadis OAM called not only for the support of other organisations but of all Greek Australians: “Whilst I appreciate people’s apprehension, there is simply no doubt that the only way out of this pandemic mess is through vaccination. Our borders will only open when we are vaccinated. Our lives will only return to resemble something like the ones we enjoyed once we are vaccinated. This is the message of all of our scientific experts and political leaders.”

His Eminence Archbishop Makarios reiterated the need for everyone to get vaccinated saying: “We must not forget that vaccination constitutes an act of self-protection, but, primarily, it is an act of love and solidarity for our family, community, and the wider society to which we belong. In order to achieve the best possible control of the pandemic, I urge you with paternal love and responsibility to get vaccinated against Covid-19, if you have not already done so. I pray that our benevolent God strengthens everyone and quickly frees humanity from this terrible ordeal of the pandemic.”

The Chair of the Hellenic Australia Chamber of Commerce (VIC) Fotini Kypraios added: “Increasing the vaccination rates must become the absolute priority if Victoria is to re-open for business with confidence and not be at the mercy of ’snap’ lockdowns. Inadequate supplies of the vaccines have left Australia languishing when compared to other parts of the world, where notwithstanding daily new cases in the many thousands, are open for business and learning to live with COVID-19.  The sooner we increase vaccination rates, the sooner Victorians can safely reconnect, confidently re-open for business, regenerate investment and reinvigorate the local economy.”

With particular expert insight, the GCM Treasurer and President of the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia (HMSA) Assoc Professor Marinis Pirpiris issued the following statement for people to consider and community organisations to endorse: 

“On behalf of Melbourne’s leading Greek community groups, the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia, is writing to ask you to visit your doctor or a vaccination centre and get vaccinated as soon as possible. COVID-19 is dangerous and is not going away any time soon. According to a study at the University of South Australia, at least 80 percent of Australians over 70 years are at high risk of contracting severe COVID-19 or dying from it. Our most world-renowned doctors and scientists are urging all of us to get vaccinated urgently. This includes our physicians, surgeons, scientists and general practitioners. The virus and its future variants will be with us for years. We can’t afford to “wait it out”.

“The virus causes serious illness and death. With the passage of time, COVID-19 is also becoming more infectious. Indecision over vaccination will lead to further losses of family members, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. Whilst the vaccines can protect us, as at the 14 July 2021, only 9.8% of the Australian population was fully vaccinated and only 27.5% had received one dose of the vaccine. In order to return to our former lifestyles, we need to bring the number of fully vaccinated people up to 75-85%. It’s time to get serious and get vaccinated.

“We recognise that some have questions and reservations about taking the vaccine. Please discuss these issues with your GP as soon as possible. The vaccines have been assessed by some of our most trusted and eminent Australian scientists and specialists. The vaccines are extremely effective at saving lives and preventing serious illness, hospitalisations and long-term health problems and disability.

“Extensive testing and contact tracing, mandatory quarantine and snap lockdowns are not viable long-term strategies. These measures are designed to protect us from the terrible recent experiences in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. We must get vaccines out as quickly as possible. Because the virus is mutating and its behaviour changing, we must be proactive. The only viable long-term solution that will protect us, our families and friends, is seeing your doctor and vaccinating.

“We are at war with an invisible biological agent. There is no time to waste. We need to ensure we all remain healthy by seeing our general practitioners, discussing our concerns, rolling up our sleeves and getting vaccinated. We can no longer be complacent. The borders will not remain closed indefinitely.“

If you need further information on the COVID-19 vaccines, please visit your general practitioner, call 1800 020 080 or send your questions to: https://www.health.gov.au/…/covid-19-vaccine-enquiries

Assoc Prof. Marinis Pirpiris

President, Hellenic Medical Society of Australia

Signed in support by:

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

The Greek Community of Melbourne

The Federation of Greek Elderly Citizens Club

The Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce (Vic)

The Greek Precinct Association of Melbourne

The Panepirotic Federation of Australia

The Pan Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria

The Thessaloniki Association – The White Tower

The Hippocratic Optometric Service

The Hellenic RSL Sub-Branch

AHEPA Australia

The Panarcadian Association of Melbourne and Victoria Limited (“O Kolokotronis”)

The Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand

The Pensioners Association of Bulleen & Templestowe

Greek Community Television

The Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia fully endorse this statement.

The Pontic Educational and Cultural Association of Vic “Akrites Tou Pontou”

The Pontic Foundation of Australia “Panagia Soumela”

The Pontian Brotherhood of SA

The Canberra Pontian Club

The Greek Pontian Society of Wollongong “Diogenis”

The Pontian Society of Sydney “Panagia Soumela”

The Pontian Brotherhood of NSW “Pontoxeniteas”

The Federation of Messinian Organisations of Melbourne and Victoria

The Pantrifilian Association of Melbourne and Victoria

The Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria

The Panarcadian Federation of Victoria

The Pan-Samian Brotherhood of Victoria “Pythagoras”

The Greek Youth Generator

The Premier, Gladys Berejiklian has held an online meeting with around seven hundred of the State’s community-language teachers.

Organised by the NSW Federation of Community Language Schools, the meeting was also joined online by the Minister for Customer Service, Victor Dominello, the new Minister for Multiculturalism, Natalie Ward MLC and the CEO of Multicultural NSW, Joseph La Posta.

The NSW Police Force Corporate Sponsor for Cultural Diversity, Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke APM and Dr Jan Fizzell, Senior Medical Adviser, NSW Health also participated.

The President of the Federation, Lucia Johns, said during the meeting that children were continuing to study their family language on line or even by mail, where necessary.

“The children at our schools and their teachers can play a key role in helping to communicate important Covid Safety information to their families at this time.

“The Federation will coordinate the delivery of crucial Government information to language communities through our website and though our schools.

Ms Johns paid particular attention to the “wonderfully clear advice provided by Dr Fizzell to the teachers and family representatives participating, in answer to their many important Covid questions”.

In welcoming the community members to the forum, the Premier thanked them for their long years of work and revealed that she had attended a community language school for 12 years growing up and that her sister had taught Armenian language for another eleven years after that.

“So my family have been involved with community language schools for most of my life. I want to thank you for all the wonderful work you do and appreciate how well connected you are with your communities.

She reiterated that not leaving home at this time is “such an important message for our communities, many of whom are used to interacting with each other.”

“So, it’s very difficult for all of us. If we all work together we have a better chance of getting out of this than otherwise”, she told the Zoom participants.

The Executive Officer of the Federation, Michael Christodoulou, thanked the Premier for “acknowledging the significance and importance of the community language sector – the students, the teachers and the volunteers”.

“Choosing to consult with this sector is recognition that, as the Premier herself proclaims, we are all in this together and united we will win” he said.

Author Kathryn Gauci will give an online lecture entitled Threads of Life: Greek Textiles Through the Centuries, on Thursday 29 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

From the Minoans to Modern Greece, textiles in all forms, from cloth manufacture, costume, home textiles, and embroidery, have played a vital role in Greek society. During this presentation, the major influences that have affected the changes through the centuries, from war to social changes, to the influx of the Asia Minor Greeks after the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 will be explored.

The way Greek culture, particularly Classical Greece, has impacted other European countries will also be examined. The influence of Greek sculptural ideals are well-known, and the important archeological discoveries of the mid-late 19th Century led to the revival of Classicism, which was a major influence, not only decorative style and fashion, but on health too. A few years later, 20th Century fashion designers such as Mariano Fortuny and Madame Grès, took on these Grecian aesthetic ideals with its freedom of movement with gusto.

Kathryn Gauci was born in Leicestershire, England, and studied textile design at Loughborough College of Art and later at Kidderminster College of Art and Design, specialising in carpet design and technology. After graduating, Kathryn moved to Greece where she worked as a carpet designer in Athens for six years. She later moved to Melbourne and ran her own textile design studio for over fifteen years; work which she enjoyed tremendously as it allowed her the luxury of travelling worldwide, often taking her off the beaten track and exploring other cultures. Kathryn is now a full-time author of Historical Fiction and has written five books set in Greece. The Embroiderer is her first novel; a culmination of those wonderful years of design and travel, and especially of those glorious years in her youth living and working in Greece – a place that she is proud to call her spiritual home. It has also been translated into Greek – Η κεντήστρα της Σμύρνης.

When: Thursday 29 July 2021, 7pm

Where: ONLINE ONLY through Facebook, Youtube.

Halimah Kyrgios has entered the race to become Australia’s next winner of reality singing show The Voice. 

The self-proclaimed “straight-MT girl”, that is “musical theatre”, will debut on the show next month and says it has been decades in the making. 

“I enjoy singing all different styles but what I have trained in and what has been embedded in me since six years old is that classical ‘MT’ sound,” she tells Confidential. 

Halimah Kyrgios has worked as a theatre dancer and entertainer since finishing university. 

She often showcases her love of singing and dancing on Instagram but says she’s not used to the intensity of reality television. 

“I guess this has all been a taste of what my little brother goes through,” she says. 

The Canberran is already fielding off the inevitable comparisons to her younger brother and tennis world champion Nick Kyrgios from her home base in Hong Kong. 

“I feel like people expect all of our family to revolve around one thing but there are three of us and we are all in completely different industries,” she says. 

She admits to the similarities between her and Nick, however. 

She says the pair, who also have another brother Christos, are similar in that they both have ‘competition and drive.’

The Voice is expected to premiere on Sunday, August 8. 

Source: Daily Telegraph