King’s Birthday award for Thalidomide fighter

LOCKWOOD Souths Lisa McManus has been honoured this King’s Birthday for her service to people with a disability as founder and director of Thalidomide Group Australia.

Thalidomide was a drug administered to pregnant women in the 1950s and 60s to help with morning sickness before it became apparent it was affecting foetuses and babies were being born with physical impairments.

Ms McManus said she was thrilled to be acknowledged this King’s Birthday with a Medal in the Order of Australia.

“How I’m feeling is absolutely thrilled,” she said. “Shocked and thrilled. I couldn’t be prouder of this and of the recognition, I don’t even know how to put it into words.”

After living with the effects of thalidomide poisoning her whole life, in 2014 that Ms McManus decided to take a stand.

“Thalidomide is toxic and just a stinking drug, a stinking rotten drug,” she said. “We were always known as the thalidomide children.

“In 2014 my body was starting to not function as I wanted it to. I wanted it to be active and I was teaching and lecturing, and it just wasn’t working.

“I knew then my disability was starting to overcome my ability.

“There was a group of five of us thalidomide survivors that got together and thought, let’s look at chasing the government for support. Five of us became four and four became three and within six months it was just me.”

Taking the battle on alone for hundreds of survivors Ms McManus was finally vindicated in 2021, though not to the extent she had hoped.

“The more I researched I got wilder and wilder,” she said. “I’m only five foot three, but I grew to seven foot tall just in fury.

“In the 2021 budget, the government at the time, the previous government decided to finally recognise that we as thalidomide survivors existed.

“It was an announcement of $44.9 million that looks really good on paper.

“There are approximately 150 of us survivors now and we knew it failed dreadfully in comparison to others, the Canadians have a lot fewer survivors than us but they got $250 million.”

Ms McManus said the fight isn’t over yet though.

“There’s a lot we’re still chasing like a memorial and a national apology,” she said. “We were promised that maybe seven years ago, and we are still waiting.”