Episode 36: Running Man: Alberto Campbell-Staines

Meet people with disability from across the state in Choice and Control, a podcast from Carers Queensland.

Alberto Cambell-Staines represents Jamaica at the Paralympic Games

Alberto Campbell-Staines is a Brisbane-based Paralympian in the T20 category, for athletes with intellectual disability.

He holds the under-20s Australian T20 record for the 200m, 400m and 800m sprints, and works as a teaching assistant while studying to further his career in education. He's also living independently, with support from the NDIS.

But his story begins on the other side of the world, in Jamaica.

Find out more

Credits

  • Interview: Fiona Stutz
  • Production: Jodie van de Wetering

download the transcript (Word)

Choice and Control episode 6.3 

Running Man: Alberto Campbell Staines 

Transcript 

0:00 Carers Queensland announcement: LAC Connect: It’s a new way to stay in touch with your Local Area Co-ordinator, Carers Queensland. With everything you need right here on your device. It’s a handy app to keep track of your LAC appointments, browse workshops and events, check out information and support, and get the latest news, stories and podcasts. It’s available on Android and iOS, so whatever device you have you can stay in touch. Head to our website to sign up at www.carersqld.com.au and look for LAC Connect.  

0:40: voiceover: Choice and Control, a podcast celebrating people with disability. Brought to you by Carers Queensland, NDIS Local Area Co-ordination Partner in the Community.    

Alberto Campbell Staines is a Brisbane based Paralympian in the T20 category for athletes with intellectual disability. He holds the Under 20s Australian records for the 200m, 400m and 800m sprints for T20 athletes. He's also a teaching assistant and studying to further his career in education and he's living independently with support from the NDIS. But his story starts on the other side of the world in Jamaica.  

1:18 Alberto Campbell Staines: I lived at the orphanage for a few years with other kids. I went to school that was called School for the Blind for people with vision impairedness but I, most of us kids weren't blind, but we still went. I met Paul and Julianne in 2000. Mum was my grade one teacher and Dad was a music teacher/PE teacher.  

1:58 Fiona Stutz: And how long after meeting them did you move to Australia?  

2:04 Alberto: Three years after God spoke to all three of us individually, which was pretty awesome, and being that young I wasn't sure if it was God or, you know, it was someone else. But anyways I lived with Mum and Dad in Jamaica before we came to Australia for a while, and then towards the end of 2003 we flew to Australia, I was either nine or 10 then.  

2:35 Fiona: Were you into athletics before, like when you were in Jamaica, or wasn't until you came to Australia?  

2:42 Alberto: I was into athletics when I was over there in Jamaica, but I truly got into it when I came to Australia. It all started back in the days, I think it was either 2004 or ‘05, I had my first athletics carnival and I remember Mum and Dad saying on the day ‘just go out there and have fun, run with your friends.’ I surprised myself and everyone else when I started to go up the ladder coming from like 5th or 6th to 4th, 3rd and I end up winning that race. 

3:20 Fiona: And that was your first race you won?  

3:23 Alberto: Yeah, first race I’d won. That was cross country back then.  

3:27 Fiona: Oh wow.  

3:27 Alberto: And then athletics, I was sussing it out. Like, I won all my races in the athletics carnival, so yeah. 

3:38 Fiona: And now obviously, you're an athlete now. You've gone to the Paralympic Games. What did you have to do to get there? 

3:48 Alberto: I had to work my butt off to get there honestly, hard work does pay off. It was a great experience. I guess when I was little my goal was to, I guess, continue with athletics, see where it takes me. I had my first world champs back in 2013 with the Australian team, and I did very well there. I was not expecting to get a bronze medal at all. And since then I'm like ‘ok, let's see if we can set my goal a bit higher and say my next goal would be to go to the Paralympics.’ And I was not expecting to go for my birth country at all.  

4:36 Fiona: Yeah, and how did that eventuate? Running for Jamaica at the recent Paralympic Games?  

4:42 Alberto: Honestly it was a great experience. I always wanted to go to Japan, so I can tick that off my bucket list. I can tick off going to the Paralympics. But representing my birth country was a bonus. For my first Paralympics I was, I was happy, honestly, I wish I did better, but afterwards I spoke to Mum and Dad afterwards and they explained that I shouldn't really expect to do that well at my first Paralympics. Yeah, I was happy after Mum and Dad explained to me.  

5:21 Fiona: And could they come to the Games with you, or did they have to watch it from home?  

5:26 Alberto: Watch it from home, which was a bummer because that's like the first time Mum and Dad haven't traveled overseas to come and watch me run.  

5:39 Fiona: And what's your athletic career in the future? What do you want to do? Go back to the Paralympics, Commonwealth Games things like that? What are you striving for?  

5:48 Alberto: I'm hoping that I will make it to 2024 Paralympics, but honestly anything can happen from now until then.  

6:03 Fiona: So that's a little bit about athletics, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your life outside of athletics. Do you still work as a primary teachers assistant?  

6:13 Alberto: Yes, I do. Coming up to 10 years. I supervise kids that have a bit of trouble doing the activity. I'm not in the classroom anymore, I'm up in the Sport Department, which is very up my alley.  

6:31 Fiona: Yeah, I was going to say it sounds like a good fit for you. And what do you like about that role?  

6:37 Alberto: It keeps me busy, and the kids always want to have a race against me, so –  

6:46 Fiona: Ah that's excellent. Do you let them win?  

6:51 Alberto: Sometimes I do. 

6:53 Fiona: And do you help some kids that are up and coming athletic stars, do you help them with their running?  

6:59 Alberto: Yeah, I do a bit of coaching as well, so yeah, I'm coaching some kids in athletics in that area as well.  

7:07 Fiona: That's excellent, sounds like a great job for you. And do you have any other future plans for your work, or are you happy to stay with what you're doing now?  

7:16 Alberto: At the moment I'm taking the course Level 3 in TA [teaching assistant]. I want to do that full time not just part time, because I do like working as a TA.  

7:28 Fiona: Ah, excellent. How long will that take to complete?  

7:31 Alberto: It shouldn't take that long actually; my goal is to finish it early next year.  

7:36 Fiona: And so obviously having a job and earning your own money leads to more independence, of course, so do you live on your own or with friends?  

7:45 Alberto: I live on my own, I'm that type of person who likes my space and quiet.  

7:53 Fiona: How long have you lived on your own for?  

7:56 Alberto: A year and a bit.  

7:58 Fiona: And what do you think about living on your own? What's the benefits of living on your own?  

8:03 Alberto: I don't have to share a bathroom or kitchen with others.  

8:09 Fiona: And do you live close to your parents?  

8:12 Alberto: About 25 minutes away from my parents.  

8:15 Fiona: A pretty good distance. 

8:17 Alberto: Yep 

8:18 Carers Queensland announcement: Everybody has rights, but sometimes it's not easy to speak up and advocate for yourself. It takes confidence, resilience, knowing your rights and knowing someone has your back. Be the voice you want to be can help – it's a free program from Carers Queensland for people with disability. It'll build your skills. Help you be a strong advocate for yourself, your family, and friends, maybe even your community. Along the way you'll build a peer network, so you have a squad to support you speaking up. Find out more get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website at carersqld.com.au or call our enquiries line on 1300 999 636.  

9:05 Voiceover: Alberto uses his NDIS plan for a support worker to help with shopping, study, and social activities. There's also support for his athletics career.  

9:15 Alberto: That's been really helpful. It’s very much been very helpful with physio, because I have physios twice a week and it's been really helpful. And I do Pilates with my physio on Tuesdays and then I see her on Thursdays. Really helpful with my athletics, work on muscles that I don't use when I run and learning how to use those muscles when I run. And having a nice ease out before a race, or when I'm sore I can just say it to my physio that ‘I’m feeling a bit sore here, what do I do to not feel sore in this particular area?’ And she will tell me and then she will ease me out.  

10:18 Fiona: And so, you said you’ve been living by yourself for about a year and a half, that's fantastic, it sounds great. Why do you think it's important for people to want to have independence and be able to live their own life?  

10:33 Alberto: To me, I like showing people that I can be independent, I can survive without support from my parents, like, much support from my parents, I do get a little bit of support from my parents. I think it's really fun as well living by yourself, you know, you get your own space, you can do whatever you want and you can have friends over as well. And it's more freedom as well, I feel like, you get more freedom being outside of your parents’ place.  

11:16 voiceover: You can follow Alberto's athletic career on his Facebook page – www.facebook.com/AlbertoCampbellStaines/ and for more information on the Paralympics, including opportunities for you to get involved in parasport at any level from beginner to pro, visit www.paralympic.org.au. 

Thanks for joining us at Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland podcast. For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Carers Queensland, contact us online at www.carersqld.com.au. You can call us on 1300 999 636, or head to Facebook and look for ‘Carers Queensland NDIS’.  

Mentioned in this episode 

Mentioned in this episode

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