Eli Murn made a reckless choice on the road two decades ago and now warns others to think twice

Two decades ago, Eli Murn made a reckless decision behind the wheel, and now his story serves as a warning to others to be responsible on the roads.

Eli Murn knows the dangerous choices he made when driving in the Adelaide Hills with his girlfriend and paid the price for his recklessness.

It was May 2004 when Mr Murn, then only 24-years-old, was celebrating his good fortune.

He received news he was admitted into university to study a Bachelor of Science majoring in Food and Nutrition and he was already in the Australian Institute of Sports playing volleyball with a chance of making it onto the Olympic selection.

Looking back, Mr Murn admits that back then he thought “too highly of himself.”

Eli Murn was a rising volleyball star when he crashed his car into a tree in the Adelaide Hills in 2004. Picture: Supplied

“I was young, I was showing off to my girlfriend, and I was taking risks in the hills that I shouldn’t have,” Mr Murn said. “I thought I knew the road really well.

“But really, I just thought I was much better than I actually was.

“I went too fast around a corner and lost control. The tyres went into the dirt. The car spun around and it hit two solid pine trees on the wrong side of the road.”

Eli Murn was a rising volleyball star when he crashed his car into a tree in the Adelaide Hills in 2004. Picture: Supplied

He suffered three broken ribs, a punctured lung and an acquired brain injury. His then girlfriend also suffered a bruised shoulder and never contacted Eli again.

When he was placed in the care of the doctors, he was induced into a coma to allow his body to heal.

Mr Murn went on to spend two weeks in ICU. He spent a further six weeks in the high care ward at Flinders Medical Centre before completing nine months at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre and another 11 months undertaking formal home-based therapy.

Two decades have passed since the crash and Mr Murn says he still feels the consequences of his actions on that windy, wet road.

“I still have quite a bit of mobility issues and I can’t walk for more than a couple of hundred metres,” he said. “I can’t even get up from the ground without somebody’s help.

“I have strength issues, fatigue affects me badly and I get physical responses to mental exertion.

“It’s harder for me to regulate my mood, I have inhibition issues and feel anger and irritation quickly when I shouldn’t and I also have difficulty reading social cues.”

Since then, Mr Murn has also become a big road safety advocate.

Eli Murn was out to celebrate getting into university, when he lost control of his car and smashed into two trees in the Adelaide Hills. Pictured at home in Mt. Barker with his dog Henry. 30 October 2024. Picture: Dean Martin

He wishes there was aptitude testing for young drivers, to determine the likelihood of their recklessness and their sense of safety on the road.

“Road safety is a huge thing for me,” he said. “There were so many fatalities last year but I talk about road toll in terms of numbers because they’re so much more than that.

“Every life lost can affect hundreds of thousands of people.

“The fact that we lose so many is a failure in our system.”

Or as Mr Murn knows first hand, crashing your car, “doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to die” but there will be long lasting consequences.

Mr Murn’s advice for drivers is simple: “Drive like the car next to you has your mum behind the wheel”.