Set for game running

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE residents Kate Jeffrey and Michael Morley will be among the community and celebrity runners carrying the Queen’s Baton through their home town next week.
Fourteen-year-old Kate will carry the baton into the heart of Healesville on Monday after it arrives from Yarra Glen.
Born with cerebral palsy, Kate’s ‘get on with it’ attitude to life, her ready smile and bubbly personality have made her an inspiration to others.
“That’s one of the reasons she was nominated,” her mother, Jan, said. “She never grumbles about her problems and loves a laugh.”
Kate, who is an avid participant of wheelchair sports on weekends and loves watching the tennis, said she was honoured to be taking part in the relay.
She will carry the baton from the Kinglake Road turnoff (near the scout hall) along Maroondah Highway to the pedestrian lights in the centre of town.
Michael has an up-hill run from the east end of Healesville to the hospital on the Tuesday morning.
Michael’s wife, Shelley, has a younger daughter, Ella, 9, who has Rett Syndrome, a severely disabling condition. “I do a bit of work at disabled institutions,” Michael said in a masterly bit of understatement.
In addition to his job with the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Marysville, Michael works with Very Special Kids, a hospice for children with limited life expectancy, and is school council president at Mt Evelyn Special Developmental School. He says he is looking forward to the event which he sees as recognition of the support of his extended family and of the institutions he has worked with and for at different times.
Both Kate and Michael can expect an enthusiastic cheer squad of family, friends and colleagues as they carry the baton through Healesville.