Australia’s first female para drifter Christina Vithoulkas opens up on what’s next

A horror motocross crash left Christina Vithoulkas with a fractured skull, lacerated spleen and broken back. Now, Australia’s first female para drifter opens up about life seven years on.

It was September 29, 2018, (Grand Final day and I had plans to go to the pub after riding, hoping for Collingwood to lose).

I was at a motocross track in Morgan, South Australia, for their opening day, the same track I learnt to hit ramps (freestyle motocross rather than just “motocross”) for the very first time about three years earlier.

I was 23-years-old and had only recently got back to hitting ramps after a previous injury from over jumping.

Christina Vithoulkas recalls the accident that led to her becoming a paraplegic.

After a year off from hitting ramps, I felt compelled to hop back on the bike and chase what truly made me happy.

I was six months back into it, but little did I know, a life changing event was about to unfold.

The last thing I remember

It happened sometime between 11.27am and 12pm.

I wasn’t feeling confident when I attempted the 50-foot jump because of the slippery surface of loose rocks.

We pulled over a mat as this is exactly how I ended up over jumping the last time I injured my back.

I wanted to make sure I didn’t do that again, and in this moment I can only assume I took off with less speed.

I recall feeling that I didn’t take off fast enough.

That is the last thing I remember.

Christina Vithoulkas in hospital staying positive.

What happened next

My twin sister was there and witnessed me crashing beside my bike.

My head snapped back and hit my bum.

I essentially folded in half. She recalls the sound of my back breaking. I landed on my head and “rag dolled” almost 10m away from where the bike initially landed.

After the crash, the next thing I remember is the moment I woke up.

I was in the most excruciating pain. I thought I was laying on a sharp rock, and it was stabbing me in my back.

I could see my feet from the bottom of my eyes but I knew I couldn’t feel them.

I knew in that moment that I was paralysed but my brain was simultaneously visualising the life I had been living and a wheelchair just being an accessory attached.

The ambulance arrived and I was sedated so my memory is blurry.

I remember them cutting my shirt but nothing else.

Two-and-a-half hours later at 3.02pm the helicopter arrived.

Everyone assured me I was going to be OK, but for the first time in my life, I wasn’t so sure. What I didn’t know then is that I had fractured my skull, lacerated my spleen, broken my back in T5, -6 and -7, had fluid in my lungs and fractured my ribs.

I was moved from a six-hour surgery where I lost six litres of blood to ICU and the doctors assessed my situation and panic set in that I would no longer be Christina, the person I was.

The hard road ahead

I spent the next few months in rehab, where I began the long process of relearning how to do just about everything in day-to-day life, which I approached as homework.

I had tasks I needed to tick off before I could go home.

Christina Vithoulkas saw rehab as homework.

The hardest part in hospital was dealing with everyone around me – friends and family who carried a sense of loss and at times felt like my own funeral service as everyone mourned around me.

That’s not me, rather I used my time in hospital to enjoy and have guilt-free moments with friends and family.

I wanted to see it as a chance to have fun with no obligations.

Physically I was 75 per cent paralysed but that had nothing to do with the most important things in life.

Being paralysed wasn’t going to stop me from having a family, nor was it stopping me from receiving love and giving love back, laughing with people and experiencing life.

I knew that whatever was important and meaningful to me would not be impacted by my ability to walk.

I was just attached to a wheelchair now and I was going to continue living my life.

I focused on positive thoughts and reassured myself that I was the one in control and continued to do what was best for me.

Why I’m still grateful and meeting the love of my life

I am so grateful for where my life has taken me. I’m in a two-and-a-half-year relationship with the man of my dreams.

He is too good to be true and I am so grateful our paths crossed.

He is the only person since my injury besides my immediate family who sees me as a human being and doesn’t view me as ‘disabled’.

Christina Vithoulkas with Jesse Baker who is now the love of her life.

He’s on the same page as me about not wanting kids in the immediate future and it was one of the first things we discussed on our first date, because I think it’s important and people wait too long to have uncomfortable conversations.

Trying to juggle the disability and kids at the same time wouldn’t be something I’d want to jump into anytime soon. I’m only 30 so I have so much time to work out what is ahead of me.

Making a difference

After my accident, various people and organisations wanted to raise money for me.

Sadly, what I came to learn was that some of these fundraisers had been set up for their own personal gain and would steal the funds.

So, when I was approached by a fellow FMX rider to be involved with Wings for Life World Run, I was initially sceptical about any foundation raising money.

After my first Wings for Life World Run event I experienced something truly unique – a movement I am so proud to be a part of.

Wings for Life World Run is about people running for those who can’t and coming together to raise money for spinal cord injury research – with 100 per cent of the entry fee going to research, to show support and have fun.

Christina Vithoulkas says she’s with the man of her dreams, Jesse Baker.

It isn’t so much about finding a cure for me personally, but the thousands of people all around the world whose lives would significantly change for the better if they were able to walk again.

I love this run, walk and roll event.

It’s not something I necessarily train for as a wheelchair racer, I go there and do my best and I think that is the great thing about it.

It’s you against you. You can take it seriously or you can just go there and have fun with your friends and family.

I stay strong because im carrying dead body weight around doing transfers in and out of my wheelchair and driving independently, so it keeps me fit enough. It feels like a good workout in itself just getting in and out of my car.

This year I will be taking part in Wings for Life World Run on May 4 at the La Trobe Sports Stadium and I invite runners, walkers and wheelers of all abilities to come and take part.