Carers WA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters and
community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures; and to elders both past and present.

Acknowledgements:

Carers WA

Department of Communities

Ewan Eye

Download the
free Activ8AR
app and watch
Ewan fly
on page 21

Illustrations by:

Lindsey Fowles

For helping to write the book:

Courtney Staples

Copyright © Carers Association of Western Australia Incorporated

ISBN: 978-1-922565-23-5 (eBook edition)

Published by Vivid Publishing

P.O. Box 948, Fremantle Western Australia 6959

www.vividpublishing.com.au

eBook conversion and distribution by Fontaine Publishing Group, Australia

www.fontaine.com.au

Version 1.0. All rights reserved

In loving memory of John Stewart.
I would like to dedicate this book to my Dad,
John Stewart who passed away, August 2019.
He was a strong-minded, family orientated man.

I hope i’m making you proud as you’re looking down on me.
Rest in peace dad.

Contents page

Introducing the author 6

Sibling rivalry? 8

Family is important 10

Safe, sound and supported at school 13

Luck or opportunities? 14

Fremantle Dockers forever 16

A voice for disability 18

Ewan the author 19

Try everything 20

‘Ewan Eye’: concept to reality 22

Roadblocks are for knocking down 23

To hear, you just need to listen 24

Onwards and definitely upwards 26

Thank you 27

Introducing the Author

Hello! My name is Ewan Fowles. I am 21 years old and I was born with a disability called Cerebral Palsy, the shorter version is CP. What this means is, I can’t walk and don’t have much movement in my arms. Sometimes I struggle with a lot of other things, but I never give up. It won’t stop me from living my life and having fun.

I was born in 1999 in Perth, Western Australia. My family and I then moved to Scotland for a few years. We left WA as a family of four, but when we came back there were five of us. My parents had my youngest sister Maisie. I also have another younger sister called Lindsey.

Written by Ewan Fowles

Illustrated/front and back cover by Lindsey Fowles

Sibling rivalry?

I could not be more thankful growing up with my sisters. They treat me as any other sisters would, and they definitely have no problem with winding me up and having a good laugh. It goes without saying, as any other older brother would, I like to do the same to them.

Family is important

My mum’s name is Claire. She is one of the most supportive people I have in my life. She is so loving and caring. She’s a real inspiration to me.

Similar to a lot of families these days, my parents separated.

Mark, my stepdad, is another huge supporter of mine and together, alongside my mum, would do just about anything for me. I appreciate everything they do and have done for me.

My dad’s name is John. My dad passed away in 2019. This has left a huge hole in our lives and I miss him. My dad and I shared a great love for AFL and we were Fremantle Dockers members for a number of years.

One of my fondest memories with my dad would have to be when we flew over to Melbourne and watched the Fremantle Dockers vs Melbourne at the MCG. It was a great bonding time for us. I will have those memories close to my heart for many years to come.

Safe, sound and supported at school

During my years of schooling, I made friends quite easily. I thought I would have been teased, bullied, or even looked at differently, but I wasn’t. I always felt safe and never alone. I’m still friends with a couple of people from high school to this day.

One being Dimitrie, she and I catch up as much as we can with our busy lives. We catch up over a cup of coffee or even with a couple more mates and have a game of bowling.

To give you a better understanding of what life was like for me at school, I was part of the special education unit and had various, Education Assistants to help me out. They would write down all my answers to questions for schoolwork.

I would also attend mainstream homeroom and general classes, so I got to mix with all the school not just people similar to me.

Luck or opportunities?

I have been very lucky in my life. I was nominated by a lady at Princess Margaret Hospital to the Starlight make a wish foundation. One of my wishes was to go see an X-Factor live show. My family and I got the chance to fly to Sydney where we could be a part of the audience. I got to meet a few of the contestant’s before the show. One of them was Johnny Ruffo. Once the show finished I got to meet all the contestant’s and judges. They were Ronan Keating, Mel B from the spice girls, Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Guy Sebastian! The greatest highlight was meeting everyone. It was such an awesome experience to have had the opportunity.

Fremantle Dockers forever

Each year the Fremantle Dockers hold a football game against another team in honour of the Starlight foundation, where all proceeds go to the foundation. When I was 8 years old, I was asked by Starlight if I would be a mascot for the Fremantle Dockers as they are my favourite team. A couple of years later I was asked if I wanted to do it again. Only this time, it was in celebration for their 10-year anniversary of them teaming up. It was every young boy’s dream to run out on the field. It was amazing to be a part of, not once but twice!

A voice for disability

In 2019, ECU Joondalup campus asked me to talk to the students studying speech therapy. I was also asked to talk to the Notre Dame students learning physiotherapy. I was there for them to get a better understanding and hearing it firsthand. They were given the opportunity to ask me questions. I have been asked to return to talk again for both universities which is a huge privilege, and I am very honoured.

Ewan the author

I was introduced to Carers WA and was asked to help raise awareness about the positive contributions that people with disabilities make to the community in a book form. I wrote my first book, ‘Zac’s Game Plan’.

Carers WA enjoyed it so much that they asked me write another. It’s such an achievement for someone my age to not only have written two books but running my own business in such a short amount of time. I’m looking forward to see what my future holds.

‘Zac’s Game Plan’ is one of three inclusive books that can be downloaded, for free.

https://www.carerswa.asn.au/inclusive-community-projects/

Try everything

Although I get around by wheelchair, that doesn’t stop me from giving almost anything a try. I have tried many different activities, some I enjoyed, some I didn’t. My favourites would have to be the time I went to ‘I Fly’ Perth and did indoor skydiving. If I was asked, I would do it again. I’ve also tried drifting around the track with a pro drifter, go-kart racing and 4-wheel driving, although I enjoyed it, it’s not something I could do very often. I’ve also been on the back of a three-wheeler Harley Davidson motorbike for a nice coastal drive and been sand boarding down sand dunes. I’ve tried surfing but didn’t like that so much either. I’m greatful to have a group of people that I know are behind me every step of the way to make this happen.

Watch Ewan fly!

1. Download ACTIV8AR

2. Scan the photo with you phone

‘Ewan Eye’ concept to reality

Once I had finished my last year of schooling, I was so focused on creating a future for myself that I started up the concept of my business called ‘Ewan Eye’ in mid-2018.

The play on words, (You and I) ‘Ewan Eye’ was driven from my main focus explaining that YOU and I are no different. I educate school aged children, that just because I have a disability doesn’t mean we are any different to anybody else. We can do anything others can, we just require a little more help. I dislike the way others and myself who have disabilities get looked at in public.

www.ewaneye.com

Roadblocks are for knocking down.

It goes without saying that there were many roadblocks along the way in trying to set up my business. First being, who could help get my business idea up and running? It was suggested to me, to try a disability organisation that supports microenterprise projects.

After a meeting with them, they recommended a specialised support worker who had the knowledge to help my idea to become a reality. The next step was how was I going to get my voice heard? There were many around me who didn’t take me seriously. I was told what to say and do in every aspect by a lot of people when it came to my business. I’m not one to let myself be pushed around and be told what to do. I had enough; this was MY business.

To hear, you just need to listen

Finally, someone understood I wanted my voice heard. They have helped me start the process and help me get me to where I would like to be. This included helping develop my own website and starting up social media accounts.

I now have my own support worker, Courtney, who helps me with emails to send through to the schools around me in the hope they would be interested in my services and share the same passion to spread the word about bridging the gap between those with disabilities and those without. The next step was to develop a presentation and add fun activities for children to play after the presentation was done.

The activities I run are fun and exciting but also educational. They can learn by having a small glimpse into what life is like for people with a disability. From then on, I emailed many schools and finally, with a lot of determination and persistence I got my first reply back!

Onwards and definitely upwards

My future goal would be to bridge the gap between people with disabilities and those who do not. I wish for a future where we are not looked at and judged because we look a certain way but because our futures shine bright.

I will with all my power educate our younger generation to treat everyone with the same level of respect. We are a people overall and there should be no divide between one person to another.

Thank you

“As long as you believe in yourself anything is possible
if you put your mind to it.”

Ewan Fowles