Ironman for Spinal Cure Australia

For those new to my story – I’m Emma, 29-year-old Paramedic from Victoria. Life was going swimmingly for me until January 2020, when I was squashed by a tree branch while hiking with mates in New Zealand. The branch, whose size has increased with every storytelling, let’s say 4m long, did a fair bit of damage – 20 broken bones including my skull, jaw, clavicle, humerus, 6x ribs, wrist, hand, ankle and 3x vertebrae. Unfortunately, one of those vertebrae had completely burst and a piece of bone impacted my spinal cord, leaving me with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). I woke up a few days later with 3 out of my 4 limbs paralysed.

 

Following a 4-month stint in hospital where I bounced from surgeries to ICU to spinal wards and rehab, it was evident I would be one of the rare lucky walking out of the spinal rehab hospital without a wheelchair. I’ll never stop being grateful for this, but admittedly, I also feel a sense of guilt that the other 20 patients on the ward with me, many of whom were now close friends, wouldn’t share the same fortune. Watching them and their families adjust to their new lives will stay with me for life.

 

I’m now 2.5 years on from the tree-squashing, and life with a SCI is still a bit poop! I still have many of the unseen complications of SCI’s, such as no bowel or bladder function, no sensation posteriorly from my waist down to my toes and the never-ending neuropathic pain, to name a few. My right arm still has no hand function and minimal strength and movement. But, as they say, life goes on, and so has my physio and training, and I can honestly say I’ve worked pretty darn hard to get this far.

 

So, here I am, 10 days out from the start line of the Port Macquarie Ironman - 3.8km Swim, 180km Ride, 42.2km Run. This has undoubtedly been a big personal goal of mine for years, and now doing it one-armed, and with my limpy-shuffle-trying-not-to-fall action I call running, it’ll certainly be my biggest challenge to date. And because Spinal Cord Injuries are poop and a cure would be great, I’d love to raise some money for Spinal Cure Australia in doing so. The research they are currently funding, especially in Neurostimulation, is top-notch, and given so much hope that a cure is within reach! So, any donation, big or small, would be greatly appreciated!