32 | T HE B A R O SSA M A G
Megan’s message of hope
WORDS ALICIA LÜDI-SCHUTZ
PHOTOGRAPHY PETE THORNTON
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Don’t ever tell Megan McLoughlin
she can’t do something, she’ll prove
you wrong.
To say this Tanunda mother of two
is tough, resilient and inspirational
seems an understatement, for this
woman’s courage and sheer grit is
something few can muster.
And muster is the key word.
This big-hearted farmer’s daughter
with a wicked sense of humour is a
master of “bringing the herd together”-
not just cattle in the paddock, but also
like-minded people with a passion for
their communities.
Megan will tell you humanity is a
herd and everything meaningful
she does in life is about “having one’s
back”, offering hope and caring for
the wellbeing others.
“People think I’m strong, but I don’t
see it as strength,” Megan says.
“I see it as just wanting to be normal.
I crave normality and in order to
do that, I seem to do really unusual,
extraordinary things in the hope that
I can fit into society.”
Despite her best intentions, Megan
is far from fitting into that box.
She’s a double transplant recipient and
legally blind, not that you would know
when meeting her for the first time.
Diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the
age of 8, Megan quickly discovered an
inner toughness.
“Being a young kid that rode horses
and did sport and a lot of outside
activities, it was a bit of a shock. All of
a sudden they are telling me I can’t do
anything. My parents were completely
against that, so I kept riding my horse,
kept playing my sport and kept doing
everything.”
At the age of 12, the medical profession
painted a very bleak future.
Megan won’t use a cane, even though
she admits the scars on her legs say she
probably should and there’s been many
a time she’s been speaking to a pot plant
or wheelie bin and wondered why it
hasn’t answered. “I had a doctor say to me, you are
going to lose your legs, your eyesight,
your kidneys and you are going to die
before you are 30 because that’s what
diabetes does to you…it’s a daunting
thing to be told.
“A disability should not define who you
are, it’s just something that happens,”
says Megan. “I decided to ride my horses from
Melrose in the Flinders Ranges where
we were living, to Adelaide to raise
awareness for Juvenile Diabetes.
“We raised $25,000 and a lot of
awareness... I road through King
William Street, down Sir Donald
Bradman Drive to the diabetes
headquarters. It was an amazing thing -
don’t tell me that I can’t do something
when I am quite able bodied!”
A keen horse sportswoman, she
excelled at barrel racing and went
on to win seven state titles, five national
titles and a scholarship to a university
in Georgia, America to compete as
part of the college’s horse team.
“I studied animal science, so pre-vet,
large animal husbandry. Returned
home and got a job with an animal
health company, living in Sydney
and loving life!”
Work led her back to South Australia
until one day, she ended up in hospital
after getting “a bit of a headache”.
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