Inside the surprising sporting life of amputee mum Ali France after she toppled Peter Dutton in historic election win

Ali France has never let her disability determine what she can or cannot do.

On Saturday, Ms France toppled Opposition leader Peter Dutton in his long-held seat of Dickson, in Brisbane’s west, with the Opposition leader conceding defeat in a gracious phone call at about 9.30pm.

While she failed to beat him in the 2019 and 2022 election, she turned Dickson into the sunshine state’s most marginal conservative seat at the last poll, with just 3,360 votes separating her from victory.

Mr Dutton had held the seat of Dickson for 24 years, since beating Cheryl Kernot in 2001.

Miss France, 49, lost her leg in May 2011 while waiting with her four-year-old son in a carpark in Ashgrove. 

An elderly man lost control of his car at Ashgrove’s Highpoint Plaza and slammed into the mother who was pushing her son in a stroller at the time, pinning her against another car.

Milliseconds before the car hit her, she tried to push her son Zac, who was in the stroller, out of harm’s way. 

The collision severed an artery in her left leg which led to the loss of the limb after numerous operations.

Miss France was unable to walk for more than two years, but found comfort in a new sport – outrigger canoeing.

She went on to compete at the world championships in 2016 as a member of the Australian No Limits team and claimed gold in the (12-person) V12 500m sprint in the paracanoe category and the V6 500m.

‘It’s been a long road,’ Miss France told News Corp at the time.

‘(Canoeing) is very therapeutic. It’s given me a focus and something to aim for. It focuses your mind more on what you can do instead of what you can’t do.

‘I’ve been training so hard because I wanted to teach my two sons that no matter what happens in life, you’ve got to pick yourself up and strive to be the best person you can be.

‘The last five years has been a real struggle for me and my family and it’s only been the last six months I’ve felt at ease with my body and my future. This sport has helped me do that.

‘When something like (the accident) happens you want to get back to your old life and it takes a lot to change your mindset.

‘Now I’m happy with my life.’

Tragically, Miss France would lose her eldest son Henry to leukaemia in February 2024.

Henry was completing his HSC when he was diagnosed with the disease in November 2022, and spent the majority of the following 18 months in hospital.

‘Henry did everything he was supposed to do to be a survivor, to stay with us,’ Ms France revealed on social media last March

‘Our health professionals did everything they could, but all the love & medicine in the world wasn’t enough.’

Ms France said each day since she lost her son had felt like a year.

‘He was loud (in the best way), so very funny, full of hope & so loving. I ache for him to tell me “love you Mum” again,’ she said.

‘He watched his friends go to schoolies, to university and jobs from his hospital bed, cheering them on. He just accepted what was in front of him – he was the very definition of courageous.’

Ms France added her son was sports-mad, loving everything from cricket to soccer to NRL.

‘His glass was always overflowing with life & energy. He was a loyal friend, he always said sorry, he had an opinion on everything, he never stopped laughing & he moved at great speed & enthusiasm which sometimes got him into trouble,’ she said.

Ms France also lost her ex-husband Clive to cancer in September, 2023.

Henry had been battling cancer at the same time and was transported by ambulance to say goodbye to his father.

‘We were all broken. He [Clive] held on long enough for Henry to recover sufficiently to spend more time with his Dad, in another hospital,’ Ms France said.

Ms France said Zac had been her saving grace as she struggled to deal with losing both her husband and a son in the span of six months.

‘Right now it’s raw, brutal devastation but I trust we will shift to a space where we focus more on honouring Henry,’ she said.

‘I would do anything for more time with my Henry.’