Marcus Dadd

[Music plays as an image appears of a mountain viewed through branches, and then the image changes to show a steep rock wall towing over trees]

[Images move through to show Marcas Dadd sitting on a rock smiling, bees making their home on a gum tree, and then a hawk watching from a branch]

Marcus Dadd: Australia really is a country of great diversity in its landscapes, its wildlife.

[Images move through to show Marcus looking to the left, a close up of leaves and budding flowers, and then a bird at the top of a tall dead tree]

When you get to these places and you’ve got the whole place to yourself and it’s a very special moment.

[Music plays and images move through to show a view looking down at a river in the bush, and then the image changes to show Marcus talking to the camera, and text appears: Marcus Dadd, IDPwD ambassador]

I’m Marcus Dadd, I’m coming to you today from Katherine in the Northern Territory.

[Images move through to show a view of a bridge over a river, two cars driving along a road, the sun shining behind a tree trunk, Marcus talking to the camera, and then Marcus using crutches]

I was born with a rare neurological condition called Waardenburg syndrome, type four, and that has an impact on my mobility.

[Image changes to show views of Marcus using crutches as he walks through the bush]

I use a combination of a wheelchair and crutches.

[Image changes to show Marcus talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show various views of Marcus sitting under a tree]

I was born profoundly deaf and received bilateral cochlear implants when I was two years of age.

[Music plays as image changes to show Marcus giving the thumbs up while standing on a trailer loaded with sheep, and then the image changes to show Marcus smiling while holding a calf]

[Images move through to show Marcus with various stock animals, Marcus working in a vineyard, Marcus talking to the camera, views of Marcus beside a fence, and then Marcus’ arm and crutch]

I’ve always been around agriculture my entire life, but really it was in 2020 when the drought broke back home that I knew agriculture was my destiny and what I wanted to make a career of.

[Image changes to show various views of Marcus using crutches as he walks]

So this role I’m currently on is a graduate position.

[Images move through to show Marcus talking to the camera, views of Marcus looking at cattle, Marcus’s side profile, a road beside a paddock, a cow’s face, and then Marcus talking to the camera]

My first rotation has been working in the stock camp as a ringer, following an incredible four and a half years down in Canberra at ANU where I did a Bachelor of Environment and Sustainability, Advanced Honours.

[Music plays as image changes to show cattle sniffing Marcus’ hand over a fence, and then the image changes to show Marcus’s hand scratching a cow’s face]

[Images move through to show Marcus talking to the camera, various views through a windscreen travelling on a road, and then trees flashing past]

My family invested in different mechanisms that would help me get around and make my life easier and my work easier.

[Images move through to show views of a road sign of town distances, Marcus talking to the camera, trees flashing past, various views of Marcus driving, and then the rearview mirror]

We got our first car modified about five years ago, a ring that sits out on your steering wheel and you push that as your accelerator.

[Images move through to show a truck in the side mirror, and then the image changes to show Marcus’s hand pushing a lever beside the steering wheel]

Over where your indicator is you’ve got a lever and you push that in and that’s your brake.

[Images move through to show Marcus’ hands on the steering wheel, Marcus driving with crutches beside him, and then a view from inside the car of Marcus driving on the road]

It’s been a revelation getting them put in to give me the freedom to be able to live my life the way I want to.

[Images move through to show various dirt roads through a windscreen, paddocks flashing past, Marcus talking to the camera, and then passing a pivot sprayer]

As technological advancements continue it really opens the doors for a lot of people with disabilities to get involved.

[Image changes to show a view of a dirt road leading to a farm through a windscreen]

Agriculture as an industry needs a real diversity of skills.

[Images move through to show Marcus talking to the camera, various views of Marcus using crutches as he walks beside his car]

There’s that awareness and that understanding, people are more accepting, I suppose, of disability in agriculture.

[Images move through to show Marcus’ hand holding his crutch, a rear profile of Marcus, and then the image changes to show Marcus talking to the camera]

It’s a huge honour to be an Ambassador for International Day of People with Disability.

[Images move through to show Marcus smiling sitting under a tree, rear view or Marcus under a tree, and then Marcus beside his car]

I hope I can inspire people to really chase their dreams.

[Images move through to show Marcus with crutches smiling and giving the thumbs up, Marcus beside a large dead tree, Marcus smiling, and then Marcus looking at various mountain views]

I’ve always been very optimistic my entire life, looked at what I can do as opposed to what I can’t do.

[Images move through to show views of Marcus beside his car, gum trees, Marcus walking to a yard with crutches, Marcus talking to the camera, and then views of Marcus smiling at the camera]

If you approach life and you have a go and, sure, it might need slight alteration or adaptation, but always with the end goal to achieving what I want to achieve.

[Image changes to show Marcus talking to the camera and then smiling]

I’m Marcus Dadd and I’m an Ambassador for International Day of People with Disability.

[Music plays and image changes to show a blue screen with the International Day of People with Disability logo, and text appears: www.idpwd.com.au]