Background music plays with images of Joe creating art work in his studio.
Joe: My name is Joe. I was born Deaf and have Type 1 Ushers, this means I was born Deaf and will lose my vision at a later stage in life.
Jess: Joe and I get along so well because we like to look at things in a positive way, we like to try to find a way to break down barriers that are between Joe and the rest of the world.
Joe: I achieved my goal of going to Papua New Guinea and completing Kokoda but some people said it would be impossible for me to complete. I had to ignore that negativity and what people were saying, I had to overcome those barriers, and I proved them all wrong.
Background music plays with images of Joe hiking the Kokoda track.
Jess: You've got to be comfortable with each other, you've got to be able to
achieve that goal together, so that's about both people being a good match.
Joe: The training program said I'd need to train for 12 weeks, I saw that and thought, that's not going to be enough, so I started planning and decided to train for two years instead.
Background music plays with images of Joe hiking again.
Joe: After the six or seventh day of the trek, I was absolutely exhausted, after the eighth day I was just overcome with emotion in the camp.
Jess: When we arrived there it stopped raining and the sun came out, and it was just like the world was saying 'it's OK, you've made it here you can rest for now.'
I'm overwhelmed by how much kindness and generosity he shows so many people everyday.
Joe: I love it, I really enjoy the fun we have together.
I wasn't really involved in the community, but Jess was very encouraging to get involved to support my mental health and wellbeing and for that I can't thank her enough.
Joe (continued): Sorry, I'm just getting a bit emotional.
Jess: He teaches me so much about how to be a better person with the world around me.
Background music plays and the Hireup logo appears on screen.
