{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2012}} {{Infobox sportsperson| | name = Ken Moran | image = | imagesize = | caption = | fullname = Kenneth James Moran | nicknames = | nationality = {{AUS}} | club = | collegeteam = | birth_date =27 February 1925 | birth_place = Beaudesert, Queensland | death_date ={{death date and age|df=yes|2009|8|6|1925|2|27}} | death_place = Beaudesert, Queensland | height = | weight = | medaltemplates= {{MedalSport|Lawn bowls}} {{MedalCompetition|Paralympic Games}} {{MedalSilver|1984 New York/<br>Stoke Mandeville|Men's Pairs paraplegic}} {{MedalSport|Table tennis}} {{MedalCompetition|Commonwealth Paraplegic Games}} {{MedalBronze|1974 Dunedin|?}} }}
'''Kenneth "Ken" James Moran''', MBE (27 February 1925 – 6 August 2009) was an Australian Paralympic lawn bowler. He won a silver medal in the Men's Pairs at the 1984 Summer Paralympics.
==Personal== Moran was born in the Queensland town of Beaudesert on 27 February 1925,<ref name=moran>{{cite journal|title=Vale - Ken Moran|journal=The Marian Clarion|date=September 2009|volume=12|issue=9|pages=5–7}}</ref> the sixth of eight children of Tom and Johanna Moran.<ref name=moran/> He grew up on the family farm during the Great Depression, and had a busy and active young life which included farm duties, schooling and playing tennis and cricket.<ref name=moran/> At age 14, he left school to work full-time on the farm to help support his family during the difficult economic times.<ref name=moran/> While playing a representative cricket match in February 1945, he experienced serious physical symptoms - a sudden but lasting dizziness, loss of balance and inability to focus - that forced him to retire from the match.<ref name=moran/> Within a couple of days, he was diagnosed with polio and spent the next two years in a polio ward at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. When he was finally discharged, he spent a year with an uncle in Brisbane, managing his own rehabilitation and transition to life in a wheelchair before returning to Beaudesert.<ref name=moran/> He studied accounting by correspondence and worked in the field, and began a lifelong involvement in community work.<ref name=moran/>
==Sport== Moran took up table tennis and lawn bowls to keep active, playing against and alongside able-bodied players. He won a bronze medal in table tennis at the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Dunedin, New Zealand.<ref name=moran/> He won a silver medal in the men's lawn bowls pairs with Wayne Lewis at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/moran |title=Moran |website=Paralympic.org |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref>
==Recognition== In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1986 Moran was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for ''service to the community and paraplegic sport''.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=50552 |date=14 June 1986 |page=30 |supp=y}}</ref><ref name=its>{{cite web|title=Kenneth James Moran, MBE|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1086681|work=It's An Honour Website|accessdate=10 December 2012}}</ref> On 16 September 2010, the Ken Moran Life Centre was officially opened in Beaudesert.<ref>{{cite web|last=Todd|first=June|title=Beaudesert Times Index 26-9-2007 to 4-4-2012|url=http://beaudesertmuseum.org.au/main/images/beaudesert%20museum%20beaudesert%20times%20index.pdf|work=Beaudesert Museum Website|accessdate=10 December 2012|archive-date=9 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409100632/http://beaudesertmuseum.org.au/main/images/beaudesert%20museum%20beaudesert%20times%20index.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|1}}
==External links== * {{IPC athlete|moran|Moran}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Ken}} Category:1925 births Category:2009 deaths Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen Category:Australian male bowls players Category:Paralympic lawn bowls players for Australia Category:Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Category:Paralympic medalists in lawn bowls Category:Lawn bowls players at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Category:People with paraplegia Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Sportspeople from Brisbane Category:Sportsmen from Queensland Category:Sportspeople from Beaudesert, Queensland Category:Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors