“It's a day I'll never forget and it's the day my life changed forever.”
The date was April 6, 2006
It's a day I'll never forget and it's the day my life changed forever.
It was dark when I woke. I happened to be sleeping on the floor as grandma was staying and I'd given her my bed. It felt to me like I had the beginning of a dull headache and though not so bad, quickly began to get a lot worse. I walked to my parent's bedroom and waking mum told her I wasn't feeling so good. Explained I had a sore head and getting me to lie down mum went for some aspirin. This didn't go down well. More how it tasted and I remember spitting my first gulp back out. I finished it and yet my headache got progressively worse, quickly. 5 minutes later I lost consciousness.
I woke-up 5 week later. I had no idea where I was, or what had happened. I tried to speak. No words came out. I thought I was saying something, the words were forming in my mind, I could see them. I just couldn't hear them. I just couldn't understand this and that lead me to have a panic attack. A helpless panic attack. I was completely lost.
Sometime later, when I had managed to calm down one of my parents told me that I’d had a stroke. Did I really understand this? They explained it was a bleed occurring on my brain. I'd had emergency surgery and was put in an induced coma to alleviate the swelling. I’m not going to lie, I just didn’t believe it at first. I actually thought I was in a video game for quite some time...
I was in the hospital for just short of five months.
During this time, I started to have to relearn everything, again. Like how to lift my head off my chest. How to eat. How to talk. How to walk. Learning this was, and still is, a long and hard process. I still have a problem with my right arm. I've a strange walk leading to mobility challenges. And I still sometimes slur my words.
Eventually, I made it back to school full time. I thought I was doing okay, but in reality, I was just driven. It was obviously a very different environment than the one I had left.
I just didn't seem to have any motivation.
I just didn’t see the point.
I'd loved table tennis prior to having my stroke and I found that was something I could still have a decent-ish crack at. Being able to participate, being able to be included, it began to change my view and I began to feel more empowered, more self-drive. I'd taken a step forward and I began to find I was getting my mojo back. Indeed I hd realised this was my situation and given what had happened, it was now down to me try and make it better.
Not long after doing a physio assessment, my physio asked me if I could do a long jump. So taking another step forward, well actually a few, I gave it a crack. I jumped, I landed, then I fell on my arse! That though is pretty much how I learned to run again. Well not so much run, more of an awkward gallop!
I graduated from year 12.
Though that took me two years. Straight from school and building on my interest in sports and fitness I went on to Tafe college and started a course to become a personal trainer. It was during this time I really began to think about the future. About my future. and the future of others like me.
Finishing college I then began to personally train myself as I'd decided I was going to walk the Kokoda trail. As much as it was a physical challenge, this was more for me a mental challenge. Repeating the cycle of placing one foot in front of the other. Always having to look down to see where I was going for 8-10 hours a day. It was a huge challenge and doing this to support the Stoke Foundation I kept at it and completing it over 12 days. This was back in 2014.
After finishing the 4 points journey on the 22nd of October 2023. Taking a little bit longer than expected due to the car crash, and having to relearn again for the third time. 9889 kms down the track, 189 actual riding days, he made it!
Tommy and Co. have a new challenge in store. This is called ‘takin’ on Tassie’. Again supporting the Stroke Foundation while also promoting inclusion through bike riding.
So why am I doing this? I want to raise awareness of young stroke, and that it’s a major issue. Did you know, that up to 600 kids (0-18) per annum in Australia will suffer a stroke this year? I can help promote inclusion. I can help to break down the perception of disability and often the limited mentality people have about this. And I also want to challenge myself to see ‘if I can’. Increasing social inclusion is very important to me. I dislike the word ‘disabled’ and want to emphasise that anyone can achieve their own goals. They’re not disabled, they are in many different ways abled.
As I progress on this next adventure, the 3 points of Tassie. I plan to stop along the way wherever people will listen, such as schools, town halls and libraries to talk to people. To share my story, grow support, and increase education about those afflicted by stroke, and the challenges of low social exclusion.
I'm also a big believer in mateship; that's what got me through the Kokoda trail. So to grow on mateship I'd love to invite anyone to come and join me on this adventure. That might just be cycling through your local town with me, or down the road as I leave town. Maybe even further if you like!
It would be great if you could be a part of this epic journey, whether it joining, following, donating, or all of the above!