Sara Shams

[An image appears of Sara Shams modelling a dress on a street runway, and then the image changes to show a medium view of Sara talking to the camera]

Sara Shams: One in five Australians have a disability and we’re all different and there’s beauty in disability as well.

[Music plays as images move through to show Sara patting a dog, a bee landing on a lavender flower, and then Sara sitting on the grass patting the dog]

[Images move through to show medium and close views of Sara talking to the camera, and text appears: Sara Shams IDPwD 2024 Ambassador]

I’m Sara. I’m a speaker, creator, actor, disability advocate and board director and I was born with a condition known as Tibial Hemimelia, which is the absence of the tibial side of the legs and feet.

[Music plays as image changes to show Sara talking with a male watering a garden, Sara’s hand resting on the male’s shoulder, and then the male’s hand holding the hose squirting water]

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera]

Growing up, I always hid my legs. I always hid my disability.

[Images move through to show a medium and then a close view of Sara talking to the camera, and then a close and a wide view of Sara twirling and smiling in front of a mirror]

There was a distinct lack of people with disabilities in media, in magazines, on TV and honestly, it was literally in the last three or four years where I asked myself a few questions. Why was I ashamed? What was I pushing away?

[Image changes to show a medium view of Sara talking to the camera]

And the biggest question that really made me rethink my choices was what message am I sending to others like myself?

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show Sara’s Instagram page]

And that’s when I started my Instagram page called No Legs, No Worries.

[Music plays as image changes to show Sara throwing the ball for the dog, and then the image changes to show Sara laughing]

[Images move through to show the dog trotting with the ball in its mouth, views of Sara talking to the camera, views of Sara modelling for photographers, and then Sara smiling]

I wanted to be that person for someone else, to embrace their quirks, to be able to be themselves unapologetically, because I think that’s what ignited that change in me, because I saw someone else saying, you know what? I am going to do this because I can.

[Images move though to show various open magazines featuring “Sara Shams”, and then a split screen of Sara walking the runway in a green drees on the left and a silver dress on the right]

I want it to be normalised to see someone like me on the runway.

[Image changes to show a scrolling screen of Sara’s Instagram, and then the image changes to show a medium view of Sara talking to the camera]

If you were a brand, you should have disability on your grid and not just for International Women’s Day or International Day of People with Disability.

[Image changes to show Sara smiling at her smartphone, and then the image changes to show Sara’s hands scrolling her Instagram on her smartphone]

Because we exist, we shop, we work, we love fashion.

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show Sara modelling clothes in the mirror]

So it’s really important to have that representation authentically every day.

[Images move through to show Sara modelling for her smartphone, modelling in the mirror, and then a close view of Sara talking to the camera]

I’ve come to realise that the disability is not the barrier.

[Image changes to show a medium view of Sara talking to the camera]

The barriers are what society has put up.

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera]

So that includes attitudinal barriers, which is what people think I can or cannot do.

[Images move through to show views of Sara modelling at her mirror, Sara smiling, a medium and then a close view of Sara talking to the camera]

There are so many things that people can do to be more supportive of people with disability.

[Image changes to show a medium view of Sara talking to the camera]

Educate yourself.

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera]

Raise awareness of your disabilities.

[Music plays and image changes to show a three way split screen of Sara modelling dresses a blue patterned drees on the left, an orange dress in the middle and a red flowered dress on the right]

[Image changes to show a close view of Sara talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show a medium view of Sara smiling at the camera]

I’m Sara Shams 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]