‘Thank you for finding me in that hallway and stopping me from quitting’: Inside the moment that led SA’s paracyclist Darren Hicks to Tokyo gold
A chance meeting in a hallway changed the tide for SA cyclist and gold medallist Darren Hicks, who had already been through hell.
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Chance meetings happen all the time. But, this particular meeting – back in 2015 – has culminated in an emotional Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo for South Australian cyclist Darren Hicks.
Seven years ago, Hicks was looking for a way to rebuild his life after he lost his right leg in a horror freeway crash that killed two people in August 2014.
Then aged 30, and having been a talented BMX rider as a junior, Hicks turned to the bike to give him a new focus as he dealt with the aftermath of the tragic accident.
But as he began to ponder competitive racing, he was told that because he planned to ride wearing his prosthetic leg, that he would be classified a C3 athlete – not a C2 – and would compete against athletes with two legs.
Downcast, Hicks was ready to quit the sport before he’d really even started: then as he walked through a hallway at the South Australian Sports Institute, he was stopped by paracyclist Loz Shaw who encouraged him to keep going.
Shaw is now Hicks’ coach in the SASI program and he’s witnessed first-hand the determination it’s taken for Hicks to achieve Paralympic gold.
On Tuesday, Hicks won the 24km Paralympic Men’s C2 Road Time Trial at Fuji International Speedway, in a time of 34min, 39.78sec; more than a minute ahead of Ewoud Vromant from Belgium, with Shaw watching on his mobile phone during a training session with other athletes in the Adelaide Hills.
“I got emotional watching him cross the line and I had to escape from the two athletes I was with and have a little teary moment in my car,” Shaw says.
Soon after the race, the two spoke: “We were both a bit emotional and Darren said to me: ‘Thank you for finding me in that hallway and stopping me from quitting’.”
The gold adds to the silver medal Hicks won on August 26 in the Men’s C2 3000m individual pursuit.
Shaw was hoping for another good showing.
“I was quietly confident that he would do very well (in the road time trial), to be within the top three because of his skill-set on that sort of circuit,” he says.
Seven years earlier, on August 18, 2014, Hicks was in the first week of his new truck-driving job, when the brakes of his vehicle failed, and the truck smashed into stationary cars at an estimated 150km/h at the bottom of the South Eastern Freeway, claiming the lives of Tom Spiess, 56, and Jacqui Byrne, 41.
Hicks was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but in 2018, the charge was dropped, after an expert report found the truck’s brakes were faulty.
The accident not only resulted in Hicks’s right leg being amputated above the knee, but also fractured his left leg and his C2 vertebra was so severely broken it required a surgery.
It’s been a far-from-easy journey to Tokyo.
In 2015, Hicks rode his first road race – wearing his prosthetic leg – and was not even close to contention.
At this point, Shaw convinced Hicks to ride with one leg, and they had a prosthetist craft a “bucket” attachment near the bike seat for him to rest his right leg in.
The two set to work on strengthening Hicks’ lower back to give him added strength on the bike. He lost close to 20kgs. His core strength improved, as did his confidence.
“From that moment on, there was a switch, that we would try to find a way, no matter what, to make it work,” Shaw explains.
“He was a changed guy with this bull-headed determination to win.
“Darren first got on the bike to detach from what was going on and every one knows that story, it was his escape. But it went from being his escape to being what he was really passionate about.”
By the end of 2019, he was a dual World Champion.
Also a keen golfer, Hicks has been training with “tunnel vision” up to 40 hours a week in the 18-month lead-up to Tokyo, always keeping a “glass-half-full” perspective despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
His Paralympic gold has required dogged determination. A dose of stubbornness.
Shaw recalls a story of putting Hicks into a humid room with the temperature dialled up to close to 40C for a gruelling, 90-minute on-bike session, which Shaw then attempted to end ahead of schedule.
“I said to him: ‘Darren, I think we might shut this down’, because he was looking a little bit ordinary.
“But he said: ‘Nup, I’m going to finish this, but when I’m world champion I’m going to put you in here and make you do this’. I’m planning my escape out of the country now.
“I honestly believe, this journey with everyone involved in Darren’s recovery and his mental wellbeing, that that bike was a little bit heavier because we all on there with him.”
Tragedy to triumph: Hicks’ incredible ride to Paralympic gold
SEVEN years ago, Darren Hicks lost his leg in a horror crash on the South-Eastern Freeway that killed two people.
Today, the South Australian won a gold medal in road cycling at the Paralympics.
Pedalling furiously, the one-legged former truck driver won the 24km C2 time trial at Fuji International Speedway in 34 minutes and 39.78 seconds, more than 90 seconds ahead of silver medallist Ewoud Vromant from Belgium.
The win gave Hicks his first Paralympic gold medal after he won a silver in track cycling earlier in the Games.
The gold medal adds to the amazing tale of Hicks, who was behind the wheel of a sewage truck when it ploughed into cars at the bottom of the South-Eastern Freeway in August 2014.
Two people died in the accident – Tom Spiess, 56, and Jacqui Byrne, 41 – and Hicks had his right leg almost completely severed. It was later amputated above the knee.
A fourth person, Louise Compton, sustained a broken neck and back and bruising on the brain and her abdominal area.
Hicks was cleared of all charges relating to the crash after an expert report showed the truck’s brakes were faulty and nothing could have stopped the fatal descent.
Hicks became a track cycling world champion in 2019.
In an interview with The Advertiser in 2017, Hicks said cycling had helped to turn his life around.
“It was a very hard time dealing with my personal side of it (leg amputation) as well as everything that has been attached to it,” Hicks said.
“Things were starting to get the better of me, I wasn’t in a great place, and the more I started riding, the more it helped to get my head in a good spot and gave me something to focus on rather than thinking about what had happened.
“It’s been a way of waking up with a purpose every morning … it’s a nice way to get the day started, to have a goal and have something you have to wake up for. And to have something you really enjoy is a positive.”
Hicks said he still struggled with the aftermath of the accident but he tried to maintain a positive attitude.
“As much as I love riding, there are still days you wake up and don’t want to deal with it – but that’s life,” he said.
“Everyone has hard times they have to deal with, I’ve just got a few extra bits that are attached. You have to deal with what’s happened and I feel like I’m just trying to do the best I can.”
Hicks’ gold was one of three the Australians have won in track cycling – and they are expected to keep adding to their stockpile throughout today and the next few days.
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