Kelly Cartwright OAM

About Kelly

At 15, Kelly Cartwright OAM was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer in her right knee. In November 2004, faced with the choice between amputation or radical surgery to remove the cancer, she had her right leg amputated — a decision that changed the direction of her life. After three painstaking months of rehabilitation she discovered running, and set herself a goal: to become the best above-knee amputee 100m sprinter in the world. She achieved it.

Kelly's record since then reads like several careers in one. In 2009 she became the first above-knee amputee woman to climb to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro. At the 2012 London Paralympic Games she set a new world record in the long jump to claim gold, then ran a personal best in the 100m to take silver. After retiring from athletics she took up powerlifting and represented Australia at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. She is an ambassador for Rare Cancers and Make-A-Wish Foundation Australia — work that keeps her connected to the experience that shaped her.

What audiences take from Kelly is the lived reality behind the phrase triumph over adversity. Hers is not a story of a single comeback but of repeated reinvention — from cancer patient to sprinter, mountaineer, world-record holder and international powerlifter. She shows that the setback is rarely the end of the story, and that goals can keep growing long after the first one is reached. For motivational keynotes, client events and conferences on resilience, Kelly Cartwright delivers a story that audiences genuinely cannot forget — proof that the hardest decision of a life can become the making of it.