Full name Donna Burns Nationality Australia | Name Donna Burns | |
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Donna Burns "So My Pillow Will Be Dry" words and music by DB
Donna Burns OAM is an Australian intellectual disability basketball player who won gold as a member of the Pearls in the 1992 Madrid Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap. Burns is an Indigenous Australian and descendent of the Yorta Yorta.
Contents
- Donna Burns So My Pillow Will Be Dry words and music by DB
- Personal
- Basketball career
- Recognition
- References
Personal
Burns is an Australian basketball player who won gold as a member of the Pearls in the 1992 Madrid Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap. Born in 1972 in Echuca, Victoria, Australia, Burns is an Indigenous Australian and descendent of the Yorta Yorta. She is the granddaughter of Margaret Tucker, an Indigenous Australian activist and writer.
Basketball career
Burns alternated from playing netball to basketball from the age of eight. As a teenager she focussed on basketball at the encouragement of her coach, who saw her potential to represent Australia.
Burns was selected as a member of the Pearls, the Australian national women's basketball team for athletes with an intellectual disability. The Pearls were undefeated in Madrid in their five games, against Great Britain, France, Poland and Greece. Burns scored 128 of the team’s 273 total points, and was voted Most Valuable Player.