The Full Story…

Tara Keane was a fit, carefree 36 year old when she contracted myocarditis, a viral infection that targets the heart. Less than one week later, she was in a coma on life support - first on a heart pump and then on ECMO - the last resort when conventional medical interventions have not been successful.

During her treatment she suffered complications leading to a clot and the subsequent amputation of part of her foot. A year later she elected to have a below knee amputation so she could avail of a prosthetic limb that would restore much of the mobility she had lost following the first operation.

She has since returned to work and has travelled all over the world with her job. She jumped at the opportunity to move to Asia for a year to support a work project, something she admits she might never have considered before her life-altering experience. She has trekked in the rainforests of Borneo, shot the big five in Africa (with her camera of course), twice hiked on crutches the 5 KM round trip up an icy mountain path in Japan to see the snow monkeys in the hot springs, paraglided off a mountain in Cape Town, driven extensively throughout the southern US states of Alabama and Tennessee to trace the roots of the music she loves – blues and rock n’ roll and of course to visit Graceland to pay her respects to Elvis (incidentally her nickname for her beloved kingfisher).

During her time in Asia she undertook a very special pilgrimage at the behest of her sister to the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand to meet Mosha, an elephant who also has a prosthetic limb, since stepping on a landmine as a baby.

In 2018 she was awarded the IPPVA Wildlife Photographer of the year and more recently was shortlisted to the final 20 in the inaugural Canon Redline Challenge, an international photography competition run across 91 countries for the image ‘Coming Out of the Dark.’

She has resumed piano lessons and hopes to finish her grades. To that end she is in discussion with a PHD student in mechanical engineering to design a device that will allow her to pursue this dream. She continues to spend all her free time chasing the dream of the perfect shot.