Life with a Rare Condition:
Arteriovenous Malformation
Noella is a Para Athlete with an inspiring journey marked by many challenges. Her story is not one of a single triumphant comeback, but made up of many chapters of perseverance and determination. Noella has gone through more than most, and her resilience is undeniable.
Noella was born with an arterial vascular malformation (AVM) affecting her right leg. An AVM, resembling a tangled ball of yarn, disrupts normal blood vessel development.
As a small child, Noella’s condition was initially dismissed by doctors, but with the unwavering advocacy of her mother, Noella finally received a diagnosis from Dr. Yakes at the Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. Her AVM was one of the largest and densest he had seen.
Treatment required multiple trips from Australia to the USA, where Noella underwent numerous embolization procedures. Despite an initial expectation of 12 treatments, complications led to 79 treatments, making her one of the few to reach such a high number.
The treatments were grueling, but the experience brought unique opportunities. One memorable encounter led to adaptive skiing with Challenge Aspen in Snowmass, Colorado. This experience taught Noella to adapt and overcome challenges, a philosophy she carried into her equestrian pursuits.
After funding ended and treatment became available in Australia, Noella resumed her equestrian activities. Despite ongoing medical challenges, including a severe femur fracture in 2018, she continued to ride and compete. This injury, however, marked the beginning of a more difficult phase, leading to depression and a reevaluation of her condition.
In 2022, Noella underwent an above-knee amputation. This life-changing surgery was a new beginning, offering her more freedom and the ability to use a prosthetic. Despite recovery bringing new hardships, she embraced this next chapter with determination.
Today, Noella continues to rebuild her life, driven by the hard-won lessons learned throughout her journey. Her story is far from over, with many moments of resilience and triumph still to come.
Noella’s Life With Horses
Noella has been involved with horses since before she could walk and has competed in many disciplines throughout her years of experience. Horses have always lent her the legs she didn’t have. Growing up in a horse-loving family, she considers herself lucky to have always been around them, and they became a significant part of her life. Later on, horses were the constant that kept her going.
As a child, Noella had a chestnut Welsh pony named Echo. During her diagnosis period, she was learning to canter, but Echo preferred pigrooting. After discovering that a small bump could cause her to bleed out, horses took a backseat, and Echo was sold as the family moved to the USA. Though there were some horsy times there, they didn’t own any horses during that period.
Towards the end of their travels in the USA, Noella’s mother started The Riding Patch in Strathalbyn, teaching people to ride as holding a standard job was tricky with frequent medical travel. At this time, Noella had a bay Connemara mare named Cinnamon, who later went into the school when she got Milo.
Milo, or Mochaccino, was the first pony to truly help Noella through difficult times. Although she didn’t fully understand her disability, Milo extended her sense of a 'normal' life. He also taught her to become adaptive. Mounting was one of her first hurdles as she couldn’t put weight on her right leg or push up. During a kids’ natural horsemanship clinic, the clinician pushed Noella to find a way to mount independently for safety reasons. Through trial and error, and with the clinician's help, she discovered a method to mount Milo using a cue for him to lift his neck, which became a significant adaptive technique for her.
Pony club played a crucial role in Noella's development, leading her to try new activities such as jumping, cross country, and mounted games. Earning certificates became a goal, but she faced barriers due to her disability. For her C certificate, which required mounting unaided from the ground, her adaptive method had to be approved by the PCA, demonstrating her ability to adapt within the rules.
For her 15th birthday, Noella received Jack, or Mallee Jack, who became her partner in numerous disciplines, including stockman’s challenges, dressage, events, show horses, showjumping, and campdrafting. Jack competed with Noella at the FEI Grade 5 CPEDI International level, supporting her through many medical changes. Despite being only a 15.1 QH cross, Jack’s heart and effort helped Noella develop her ringcraft. Currently, Noella and her team are developing a lovely thoroughbred to the same standard and are on the hunt for that one-in-a-million horse to partner with Noella as she pursues her dream of representing her country in the Paralympic Games.
Noella is also a grand whipcracker, public speaker, riding instructor, and advocate for her sport in South Australia. She is committed to growing the grassroots side of para dressage and advocating for individual riders looking to start their pathways into Para sports.
Since her amputation, Noella has become a dual sports para-athlete, playing Para Ice Hockey and sitting on the National Squad. Noella says, “While the big dream is to represent Australia as a Para Equestrian, I will not say no to the opportunity to represent in other sports.”
Despite unique challenges, Noella consistently gets back in the saddle and perseveres.