Stories about growing up with disability, mental health, and what it means to see the person first. Sally Pymer was diagnosed with chronic lung disease at 19, told she’d have emphysema by 40, and spent decades running from that truth. But growing up with her brother’s severe disabilities taught her something the world forgot: how to lead with the person, not the label.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses addiction, grief, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you’re not alone. Help is available:
• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au
Sally Pymer grew up in a family where disability was ordinary. Her brother had severe disabilities, her grandparents founded a school for disabled children, and at 15 she couldn’t even see that the boys at swimming club had disabilities, she just saw Jason, Scott, and Fiona. Then everything shifted.
At 19, Sally was diagnosed with chronic lung disease and told she would have emphysema by 40. She was invincible, 19, and in denial. For the next three decades, she poured that denial into triathlon and Ironman competitions, chasing the high of achievement while running from a diagnosis she refused to name. It wasn’t until years later, working as an alcohol and drug worker, that she recognised something uncomfortable: her exercise looked like their addiction. She was escaping similar things. Society celebrated hers and criticised theirs.
That insight changed everything. Sally stopped competing and started connecting. Now she hands out smile cards to strangers, sends one private voice message a day to a different person about what makes her smile about them (181 sent so far in 2026), and teaches AFL Auskick, a program that prizes inclusion over competition. She’s learned that a smile tells someone they matter, they belong, they’re accepted for who they are.
🕒 CHAPTERS:
0:00 The Universal Language of Connection
1:05 Exploring Resilience and Inclusion
2:53 Spreading the Message of Inclusion
5:34 Breaking Barriers Through Sport
8:58 Growing Up With a Different Perspective
23:23 Facing Life-Changing Health Challenges
35:25 Moving Beyond Labels and Stigma
40:37 The Smiles Project Initiative
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Welcome.
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Kintsugi Heroes was created from a simple belief: every person has a story worth sharing, and sometimes the story we need to hear arrives exactly when we need it most.
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