How a paralysed athlete made the Commonwealth Games her mission possible
LAUREN Parker was young, fit and at the peak of her sport. But a freak accident left her facing the toughest challenge of her life.
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LAUREN Parker is a woman not given to longwinded dramatics or overblown speeches.
She’s into brutal honesty, not taking no for an answer. And seemingly doesn’t know how to quit.
A year ago, a freak training accident felled the rising elite triathlete at the height of her powers, and left her paralysed.
She woke from surgery in Newcastle to be told her she had a zero to one per cent chance of ever walking again. Would it improve with time? “No”, the surgeon said.
“F*** off,” she said.
Days later, she posted just one word on her Facebook page about the accident: “Why”.
The absence of a question mark made it more a declaration than a question.
Next Saturday, Lauren will compete for gold in the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Her incredible journey, from supremely fit triathlete on the world stage, to broken, paralysed, frightened girl, and back to paratriathlete would see most people brand her already a winner.
That’s not enough for Lauren. The accident that cut her down might have paralysed her body, but not her competitive instinct.
She’s going for gold.
“I’m only happy when I’m training or racing,” she tells 60 Minutes’ Peter Overton in a frank interview to air on Sunday night.
“Aside from that, life in a chair, what you have to deal with ... people don’t understand what spinal cord injuries actually do to a person.”
“I CAN’T FEEL MY LEGS”
Lauren, now 29, was on a routine training ride with mentor, coach, friend and iron man legend Brad Fernley last April when life as she knew it came crashing down.
She was powering along the Pacific Highway near Newcastle at 45 kilometres an hour when inexplicably, both her bike tyres blew.
Fernley still can’t get the sound as she catapulted and smashed into the guardrail at the side of the road out of his head, he tells Overton.
As he ran towards her, he knew “it wasn’t good”.
“I can’t feel my legs. Why can’t I feel my legs? Please tell me everything is OK,” Lauren said.
He couldn’t tell her that. Instead he said: “be calm”.
Her ribs were broken, a lung punctured lung, scapula and pelvis busted. Her broken back left her paralysed from the waist down.
The fighter in Lauren refused to process the concept of never walking again.
The reality though, in those early days, was lost hope.
Her Facebook page is testament to a painful physical and mental journey, with small, stubborn victories, sobering reality checks, support from loved ones, and steely determination.
On May 12, 2017, a post with a single quote: “She believed she could so she did”.
A day later, after a week of “feeling crap” and busting out to go shopping: “I liked the shopping but it was hard and overwhelming ... I felt like I was getting in the way of everyone and I couldn’t fit in a lot of my favourite shops.” Looking in show shops and realising she’d never be able to buy heels or “trendy” shoes again: “I have to get used to it I guess!”
On May 18: “I miss riding and running every morning”. Followed, hours later by a post from a person determined to count the wins and celebrating the milestone of lunch with mates at the hospital cafe.
On May 30: “Fitted to my new chair”.
“ONE SPLIT SECOND CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE”
On June 2, a moment of triumph: “I stood up today! ... I wish ... the machine stood me up, but it was great to have that feeling again.”
On July 30, a picture of a scar: a vivid reminder of the dramatic detour in her life.
“It’s amazing how one split second can change your whole life”, is the caption.
In the hydro pool at rehab, the discovery her broken body limited her in the water which had once freed her was simultaneously devastating and motivating.
She defied doctors orders and predictions. And worked. Discharged herself from rehab after six months.
The triathlete would become a paratriathlete, armed with a handcycle, a wheelchair a fierce support crew, and a determination to compete again at the highest level.
With Fernley by her side, she started training. Hard. He put his building business to the side to help.
Lauren tries not to remember life “before”, she tells Overton.
“I try to avoid that ... I start missing my legs.
“I always have moments of darkness ... and I try and cover up.”
But there have been victories. Two races, and two seconds to fellow Australian paratriathlete Emily Tapp in qualifier events gave her more motivation, and earned her a spot on Australia’s Commonwealth Games team.
Next Saturday, she’ll line up to complete the journey she never wanted to be one: from elite triathlete, to “you’ll never walk again” to paratriathlete.
Typically, she’s counting that not as a winning milestone, but not a complete victory.
She wants a podium finish. A medal. Preferably gold.
She wants to win..
60 Minutes air at 7pm Sunday on Channel 9
Originally published as How a paralysed athlete made the Commonwealth Games her mission possible
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