As Hallee McCoombes charges toward the finish line of the 800-metre race, the stadium erupts. The crowd is chanting her name, their voices rising with every stride. Hallee wears a intense, hyper-focused expression that those who know her have come to recognize, the look of someone who refuses to quit.

With only metres to go, she blocks out the noise and pushes forward with everything she has. Hallee doesn’t have feeling from her waist down or below her knees, yet pain burns through her thighs as she drives herself onward. When she finally crosses the line and collapses in exhaustion, her twin sister Jada rushes to her side, lifting her into her arms and whispering the words that make it all worth it:

“You came in third.”

A Champion Against the Odds

Hallee McCoombes has already achieved what many athletes can only dream of. She holds numerous Australian track-and-field records for athletes with similar impairments, across distances from 100 metres to 1,500 metres, and competes in long jump, discus, and javelin. Her eyes are firmly set on the Paralympic Games.

What makes her achievements even more remarkable is this: Hallee was never expected to walk.

Born with spina bifida, a neural tube defect affecting the spine and spinal cord, Hallee also developed hydrocephalus, a condition involving excess fluid on the brain. When doctors delivered the diagnosis during her mother Christine’s 20-week scan, the outlook was terrifying.

“We didn’t know what kind of life she’d have,” Christine recalls. “Physically or mentally.”

A Family’s Courageous Choice

Christine and Gavin McCoombes had already endured multiple miscarriages before learning they were expecting twin girls in 2011. When Hallee’s diagnosis emerged, doctors outlined worst-case scenarios and even discussed termination, a decision complicated by the fact that Hallee and Jada were fraternal twins.

Despite fear, pressure, and lack of support from some around them, Christine and Gavin chose to continue the pregnancy. They had waited too long and hoped too deeply to give up.

When the twins were born in December 2011, both girls faced immediate danger. Jada was rushed away due to oxygen loss, while Hallee was born with her spinal cord exposed. Hallee underwent emergency surgery lasting nine hours to repair her spine and close her back.

The girls spent their first four weeks in intensive care. It was a terrifying beginning, but also the start of a journey defined by resilience.

Learning to Move, Learning to Believe

Hallee’s first year was filled with surgeries, recovery, and careful positioning to protect her spine. At just three months old, she underwent procedures to relieve fluid on her brain. After one failed attempt, a second surgery succeeded.

To everyone’s surprise, Hallee began reaching developmental milestones not far behind Jada, talking, rolling, crawling. Walking, however, came much later.

Her feet required casting and correction, followed by ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) and heavy boots. Today, Hallee still uses AFOs and a wheelchair for long distances, but she walks and runs with determination.

Her greatest motivation? Her twin sister.

“Hallee was desperate to keep up with Jada,” Christine says. “Jada would climb into Hallee’s walking frame and help push it along. They did everything together.”

Finding Her Stride

At age five, the family made a life changing move to Elliott Heads, a quieter coastal town where they could slow down and focus on family. That move changed everything.

When Jada announced she wanted to join Little Athletics, Hallee watched from the sidelines, and then turned to her parents and said, “I can do that too.”

Despite balance issues, muscle weakness, and lack of sensation in her legs, her parents said yes.

Hallee learned to run by feeling vibrations through the ground and strengthening her core and upper legs. Before long, she was racing alongside her sister.

By her second season, she was competing in disability events, and winning.

Pain, Fear, and Fierce Determination

Running was not easy. Hallee’s legs often ached intensely. She worried people would laugh at her. But her parents were always there, and instead of ridicule, Hallee found admiration.

People didn’t see her disability first. They saw her grit.

Away from the track, Hallee faces daily challenges many children don’t, including bladder and bowel care related to spina bifida. Yet she handles it all with maturity beyond her years.

When she’s not training or doing physiotherapy, Hallee loves chatting with friends and playing Roblox. At night, she still curls up with Jada, the bond between them unbreakable.

Dreams as Big as Her Heart

Hallee hopes to qualify for the 2028 Paralympics. But sport isn’t her only dream — she also wants to become a midwife, helping bring new life into the world.

When asked what advice she’d give other children with disabilities, Hallee doesn’t hesitate:

“Don’t listen when people say you can’t do something. And try your best.”

Final Thoughts

Hallee McCoombes is more than a rising para-athlete. She is a reminder that courage doesn’t wait for perfect conditions, it grows in the face of uncertainty. With unwavering family support, fierce determination, and a heart full of belief, Hallee continues to prove that limitations do not define potential.

She doesn’t just run races. She runs toward possibility.