fullname article_title birth_date death_date
francis ettore ponta frank ponta
 8 november 1935 1 june 2011
frank ponta

francis ettore ponta -lrb- 8 november 1935 -- 1 june 2011 -rrb- was an australian paralympic competitor and coach .
he competed in several sports including basketball , pentathlon , swimming and fencing .
a paraplegic , he lost the use of both his legs after a tumour was removed from his spinal column when he was a teenager .
ponta was a member of australia 's first national wheelchair basketball team , and is credited with expanding the sport of wheelchair basketball in western australia .
at the end of his competitive career , he became a coach , working with athletes such as louise sauvage , priya cooper , madison de rozario , bruce wallrodt and bryan stitfall .
he died on 1 june 2011 at the age of 75 after a long illness .
