Chris Suffield

My name is Chris Suffield and I am 31 (born in 1989). I live in St Ives, in Northern Sydney (NSW). I was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy when I was 2 years old (in 1991). I have two brothers (30 and 27), but I am the only one of us with DMD. I completed Year 12 in 2007, and since then have gone on to complete both a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) and Bachelor of Arts (Writing), both at Macquarie University.

I am an avid sportsman, having played powerchair sports since 2000. My current passion is powerchair football (a version of soccer for powerchair users), which I have been playing for over a decade now. I’ve been privileged to have represented Australia several times in the sport, including captaining the Australian Poweroos in 2014.

I am also involved in the running of powerchair football in Australia, including being part of committees for both NSW and Australia, and the 2022 powerchair football world cup. Outside of sports, I love to watch movies and try to see all the new releases. I also enjoy reading and writing and want to do more of both. I like to think that I am good at encouraging people to give their best in what they do, and I thank my sporting activities for helping develop this. Being a leader is being proud of your teammates when they achieve something amazing, from the smallest to the biggest things.

I struggle to ask people for help, and this is something I have been learning to adapt to continually. Finding a balance between being independent while not pushing yourself too far is difficult to do.

Muscular Dystrophy doesn’t stop you from succeeding in life. You can study, you can play sport, you can do anything you want to do. Don’t think about what you can’t do. Think about what you can.