Rob and Ollie Willis have had the privilege of capturing some of the stories of Australia's Paralympians for the National Library, starting with those who competed in the first Games of their kind in Rome in 1960.

One in particular - a multi-medal winner from Harden-Murrumburrah less than two hours south of Forbes - has been at the forefront of their minds as they've watched the world celebrate the achievements of today's Paralympic athletes.

The late Daphne Hilton, nee Ceeney, was the first Australian woman to compete at the Paralympic Games and an incredibly successful one bringing home 14 medals in no less than five sports from 1960 to 1968.

Rob was asked to record Daphne's story in 2010 - 50 years on from those first games - by senior sports administrator and former national volleyball player Tony Naar for the Australian Paralympic Committee and the National Library.

Daphne's story, along with numerous others, is now part of the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies Oral History Project - and their stories are well worth hearing.

Daphne became a paraplegic as a result of spinal injury in a horse-riding accident when she was 17.

After nine months in RPA Sydney she came home to Harden-Murrumburrah with crutches and calipers. She got a job with a local business but it wasn't until eight years later that she saw something in the papers about rehabilitation for polio patients and she realised she could have and do so much more.

Eventually Daphne found her to way to the Mount Wilga rehabilitation centre where she met a man named Kevin Betts who directed her into sports and physiotherapy - and who would eventually prepare her to try out for the Australian Paralympic team.

"I was scared stiff, I didn't know what was going to be ahead of me. But I got into the gymnasium and there was a Kevin Betts there who organised me into general sport and physiotherapy and he made my life, really," she told Rob in her interview, which is available on Trove.

"It proved to be everything I wanted. It got me into sport which I enjoyed every day."

Archery, shot put, basketball and so much more became part of her life and when the time came, Daphne was the lone woman selected to represent Australia at the first very Paralympic Games in Rome.

There was no funding for the athletes: there were cake stalls and dances and the community of Harden-Murrumburrah came to the party to get Daphne on that plane.

You can only imagine it was vastly different to today: Daphne remembered being billeted in a hospital when she first arrived in Rome at the end of the long flight. When she did get to the athletes village she had to be carried to her upstairs accommodation.

When it came time to compete the athletes had only their standard wheelchair of the day whether they were competing in track, on the basketball court, or any other sport.

Despite the challenges Daphne shone, claiming six of Australia's 10 medals at that Games including gold in swim events and silver and bronze in field events.

The thrill of competition and victory in some ways made settling back into life at home that much harder - but Daphne had tasted success and purpose.

She would go on to win 14 medals across three Paralympic Games and 24 at the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games.

In 1967 Daphne married Frank Hilton and in 1970 she gave birth to twin girls, the first Australian paraplegic to do so. The Willises will never forget her story.

"(Daph's) motto when adversity or resistance to a concept arose was JUST DO IT," Rob and Ollie remember now. "We still live by her mantra."

Gary Hooper was another of Australia's original Paralympians whose stories the Willises captured for the project.

Gary was permanently affected by polio which he contracted aged just 11. He was in a rehabilitation facility at Jervis Bay when he realised his strength and from there became involved in para-sports.

Gary gained selection on that first Australian Paralympic team and brought home two gold and four silver medals from Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968.

From those early athletes through the decades and to the administrators as well ... the project has sought to capture their stories and the rise of acceptance and celebration of para-sports.

"What shines through all of this is their resilience and determination and it was a privilege to be involved with them, we learnt so much about life, respect, being tenacious and not giving up," Rob reflects now.

"We were so fortunate."

Daphne's story is available on the National Library's Trove collection and through the Australian Paralympic website, so is Gary's story.

The project is ongoing and there are more stories to record once COVID permits.