Matthew Robinson

Matthew John Robinson (24 October 1985 – 21 February 2014) was an Australian Paralympic snowboarder who died as a result of a snowboarding accident at La Molina, Spain.

Early and personal life Robinson was born on 24 October 1985. He was the youngest son of Stephen and Carol Ann. His siblings were Tracy and Jarrod. At the time of his death, his fiancée was Gecel, and he lived in Melbourne, Victoria. The previous year, he won a bronze medal at the same event. At the time of his death, he was leading at the IPC World Cup snowboard rankings. At the IPC World Cup in La Molina, Spain, he crashed at the bottom of the first run of his second race at the competition. After being stabilised, he was airlifted by helicopter to Hospital Parc Tauli in Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain. On 21 February, whilst travelling back to Australia by a specialised air ambulance, he suffered a cardiac arrest during a re-fuelling stop in Kuwait. CPR was administered but he could not be revived. At the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, the entire Australian team of nine athletes, along with coaches, medical staff and administration officials, wore the black armbands to remember Robinson. Peter Higgins, the Australian Paralympic Team snowboard coach said: He led by example and in doing that he lifted the entire team to be the best that they could be. Matty very much embodies the spirit of Paralympic sport; the fight we all fight; and the success you can achieve after putting in all that hard work.