Sam Pratt, a local para swimmer who has fought back from more than most of us will face in a lifetime, is stuck in hospital and unable to get home. Now the people around her are asking for help to change that.
A Local Through and Through
The 29-year-old grew up on the lower north shore and was a class of 2014 graduate of Willoughby Girls High School. Long before she became a national level swimmer, she was a familiar face at local carnivals and grounds, playing for the Northern Suburbs at Chatswood Rotary and Lane Cove Aquatic across little athletics, netball and touch footy.
Anyone who crossed paths with her tends to remember the same things: a fierce competitive streak and a real zest for life.
A Comeback Few Could Imagine
Sam’s road to the pool has been anything but straightforward.
In 2022, she broke her foot playing basketball and was later diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a condition that left her unable to bear weight. After two years of treatment, she made the difficult decision to have a below-knee amputation.
What came next says everything about her. Sam learned to walk again, returned to competitive swimming and went on to become national champion in the 200m freestyle, earning selection in state and national squads.
In 2024, she also took up wheelchair basketball, signing with the Sydney Uni Lions as a development player. Last year she was named in the 2026/27 Australian Para Futures Squad, a significant step along the para swimming pathway.
In April 2025, Sam travelled to the National Age and Open Championships in Brisbane as Lane Cove Swim Club’s open multiclass swimmer, racing the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and the 50m backstroke as part of the club’s biggest national team in its 62-year history.
Speaking to the NSW Institute of Sport last year, Sam reflected on what the sport had given her. She talked about wanting to challenge herself and see how far she could push her body, and about the community of people she had found along the way.
“It’s given me a really good purpose in life,” she said.
The Setback That Has Her Stuck in Hospital
Late last year brought another cruel turn.
In November 2025, during a tumble turn at the Australian Institute of Sport, Sam suddenly lost feeling and movement in her legs. She was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder, a condition where the brain has trouble sending and receiving signals to and from the body.
In March 2026, surgery for a spinal cord stimulator made her symptoms worse.
Sam has now spent around three months at Royal North Shore Hospital. She can no longer stand or walk and is dealing with seizures, tremors and difficulty speaking.
Through all of it, as her friends are quick to point out, her spirit and her sense of humour remain firmly intact.
Her friend Nadia Mazari said Sam is a warrior and an inspiration to all her friends.
“Despite the hand she’s been dealt, she has always turned up to our major milestones with a smile and an exciting story of her latest athletic goals,” Nadia said.
“She hasn’t let CRPS or her challenges define her and no matter whether you see her on the court, in the pool or in her hospital room, her speed, agility and wit are something to marvel at.
“Sam is also incredible at 10,000-piece puzzles, but there’s only so many you can do in hospital. We also want her home and baking her famous sweet treats.”
Why She Can’t Go Home
The hardest part is this. Sam is well enough to want to be home, but her home is not yet ready for her.
Her house in Greenwich has stairs just to get inside and the bathroom is not wheelchair accessible. The modifications she needs cost more than she has and more than the NDIS can cover or provide quickly enough.
So for now she waits, in a hospital bed, for the one thing she wants most: a safe way home.
How You Can Help
Getting Sam home is not only about money. A lot of it comes down to skills, services and practical support that local people and businesses can offer.
Sam’s family and friends would love to hear from:
- registered builders and tradespeople who can help with home modifications
- occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech pathologists
- accessible transport providers
- equipment suppliers
- anyone with experience making a home wheelchair accessible
If you can lend a hand, in any way large or small, you can get in touch with Lane Cove Swim Club, who are able to pass offers of help on to Sam’s family and friends.
Lane Cove Swim Club is also sharing the fundraiser on their page, to help cover home modifications, therapy and the costs of getting Sam safely home.
The most direct way to support Sam is through the GoFundMe page she has set up, which her friends and the Lane Cove Swim Club community have been kindly sharing around. You can find their post here.
In the Cove will also be reaching out to our advertisers and local business contacts to see who might be able to help with Sam’s home needs and therapy. A lovely few have already been in touch to say they’d like to help where they can.
If you run a business that could provide any of the services or support Sam needs, or if you’re simply able to help with some of the home items on her list, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a message at [email protected] or get in touch through our contact form on the website.
Not Done Yet
As her closest friends put it, Sam is not done. She has a squad to get back to, a life she loves, famous sweet treats to bake and every reason to keep fighting. She just needs a safe place to come home to first.
Those around her are hopeful that, with a hand from the community, a safe way home is not far off.
