Brunswick pilot Alex Yaschenko opens up about freak paragliding accident
An experienced Brunswick pilot who became paralysed from the neck down after a freak paragliding accident overseas has shared details of the horrifying incident and given an insight into his road to recovery.
VIC News
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An experienced Brunswick pilot involved in a freak paragliding accident overseas says “life is totally different” after tragically becoming a quadriplegic.
Alex Yaschenko travelled to Pakistan’s Hunza Valley in September for an international competition but his parachute collapsed only ten metres above the ground after takeoff, causing him to free fall and completely sever his spine upon impact.
“It was a freak accident,” he said.
“The ground was very rocky and steep. I landed on the rock at a bad angle and broke my neck. It was an unfortunate series of coincidences; a really bad accident.”
The 49 year-old – who had more than a decade’s experience flying – had flown in Pakistan before.
“You’re flying among the biggest mountains in the world,” he said.
The former construction worker was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then helicoptered to a larger, regional hospital.
“It’s not like Australia, the hospitals aren’t up to the standards we have here,” he said.
“They did everything they could.”
Mr Yaschenko’s partner of six years Maggie Webb flew from the United Kingdom to be by his bedside.
“We were adopted by a group of locals who took us under their wing, not many people in the hospital spoke English, including the doctors,” she said.
“They bent over backwards to help us.”
Soon after, Mr Yaschenko was flown back to Melbourne – with the help of more than $100,000, raised in just 24 hours.
He underwent surgery but it was too late to repair the break at his C4.
“With that sort of a total break there’s no real positive prognosis,” he said.
“That’s it, you can’t repair nerve damage unfortunately. I’ve got no sensation or movement below the shoulders. I’m incapacitated.
“Life is totally different. I cannot do anything. I can’t feed myself.
“I’m just a head on this body with no control. We’re trying to work out how to move forward.”
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A glimmer of hope is a recent, slight feeling in his left shoulder and side, which physiotherapists are trying to manipulate and strengthen.
While still bedridden, he will eventually move to an electric wheelchair which will give him back some independence.
Maggie said while the injury was still “very raw”, the couple were “looking for new ways to find meaning”.
Their next major hurdle would be finding appropriate housing which accommodates Mr Yaschenko’s disability.
To donate to Alex’s ongoing medical costs, please donate here.