National Taekwondo champion and Brisbane local, Maddy Houston is joining forces with the ‘One Punch Can Kill’ Campaign in an effort to curb youth violence, and put an end to the spike of ‘king hits’ that are maiming and killing her fellow Queenslanders..
Maddy, a first year university student at ACU and Factor10 Martial Arts Instructor is the newest Ambassador for the MATTHEW STANLEY FOUNDATION and will be visiting Brisbane high schools to promote its newest teen safety message Chill Out, Walk Away, and address the frightening rise in youth violence.
The Matthew Stanley Foundation was started by Paul Stanley after his 15 year old son, Matthew, was killed in 2006, after being punched in the side of the head by a 16 year old boy. It joined forces with the Queensland government to launch the ‘One Punch Can Kill’ campaign, and has been taking its message to the streets ever since. It’s latest initiative is designed to encourage people to take a breath before they take a punch.
“I don’t want another parent in this country to go through what we went through when Matthew was attacked,” explains Paul, “To have a world champion lend her support to our message will ensure that kids sit up and take notice – not just about how stupid violence is, but also how to avoid potentially dangerous situations so that violence does not sneak up on them as it did with my son.”
• Statistics reveal about 3400 Australians a year are admitted to hospital with brain injuries from assaults
• Paul Stanley has spoken to over 150,000 school students about his son’s death
• Maddy is passionate about curbing youth violence and as an athlete who has competed for many years at a National Level, wants to share the benefits of adopting a healthy lifestyle over a party lifestyle with school students everywhere
As a recent school leaver, Maddy knows exactly how easy it is for a young person to find themselves in a situation that can quickly get out control and result in injury or death.
“People insure their cars, houses even their pets but they don’t give their children lessons ‘insurance’ in the form of proper self defence. Self defence is not just knowing how to defend against an attacker but also how to look at a situation and see the potential dangers,” Maddy explains – and it can be the simplest things that can make all the difference.
“It’s the small things, like only wearing one earphone when you’re on the train so you can hear what’s going on around you, and looking up to see who is nearby. It’s about walking away when trouble starts.”
Maddy started her Taekwondo training at age six and has been winning gold medals at a State and National level since 2005. As an Instructor, State and National Champion, Maddy understands the importance of self defence, and is very excited to be part of the Matthew Stanley Foundation, giving others the skills to save their own life.
“If I can help make teens safety aware by getting the Walk Away Chill Out Message out there and saving even one life, then it’s all worth it,” Maddy explains.
“The whole idea is to give young people the opportunity to do something in between thinking ‘this situation is getting out of hand’ and ending up with someone lying bleeding on the road,” Stanley says.
For more information on which schools are being proactive about stemming the senseless violence that is raging in Queensland, contact Damien O’Flaherty on 0433 428 858
