Tom nearly died at the last Paralympics. Now he’s a gold medallist

When Tom Gallagher was presented his gold medal on Thursday evening (Friday morning AEST) after victory in the men’s 50m freestyle (S10), Australia’s first of these Paralympics in Paris, there was palpable relief on a couple of fronts.

There was the satisfaction of touching the wall for a maiden Paralympic gold medal in a time of 23.4 seconds and edging out Australian teammate Rowan Crothers (23.79), who won the event three years ago in Tokyo.

Gallagher, who has cerebral palsy, was also just happy to physically make it onto the podium this time.

In Tokyo, disaster struck, minutes after a bronze medal in his 400m freestyle final.

“After the 400 [in Tokyo] I ended up in hospital for about a month and nearly died,” Gallagher said.

“I had a massive pancreas attack. Pancreatitis is extremely painful. My heart rate went up to 240. All my internal organs started shutting down. It wasn’t good. My blood started clotting. I didn’t make it to the podium unfortunately because I was in no state. I’ll be able to go on the podium tonight, so that definitely makes up for it.”

Tom Gallagher won Australia’s first gold medal of the Paralympics on Thursday in Paris. Credit: Getty Images

Surgery has fixed Gallagher’s pancreas issues and since Tokyo he has transformed himself into a sprinter with the help of Olympian Ashley Callus and a former Australian 50m freestyle record holder. Callus is also remembered for being a member of Australia’s famous “Smash them like Guitars” 4x100m freestyle relay team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

In the next lane across from where Cam McEvoy clinched 50m freestyle gold 27 days earlier, Gallagher stormed home for a wonderful win on a night where Australia picked up two other swimming medals.

Brenden Hall swam over the top of teammate Tim Hodge to claim bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle (S9), while Lakeisha Patterson couldn’t hang on in the dying stages as she took silver in the same race for women. All four of Australia’s medals on the opening day of the Paralympics came in the pool.

Brenden Hall with his bronze medal. Credit: Getty Images

Gallagher, sporting a gold earring, admitted there was some “a bit of PTSD” in the minutes before his medal ceremony given what happened in Tokyo but let himself soak in the moment, knowing all the pain was now worth it.

“I am proud of myself, and that’s pretty rare for me because I’m the hardest critic of me,” Gallagher said.

“Standing there I tried to enjoy the moment. [My setbacks] made me a better person. It made my pain tolerance go through the roof.”

Gallagher, who is from Perth but trains on the Gold Coast, called Crothers onto the top of the medal dais as the pair blasted out Advance Australia Fair.

“I’m so stoked with that,” Crothers said. “Two Aussies up there. Sensational. We planned that behind the scenes and got to sing the anthem together.”

Swimming is once again at the La Defense Arena, with the electric atmosphere inside the stadium rivalling what took place at the Olympics.

Leon Marchand was France’s hero at the Olympics throughout a remarkable run of four individual gold medals but when local para-swimmer Ugo Didier took first place in the opening event of the program (men’s 400m freestyle), the noise inside the venue was on a similar level.

Hall, who is competing at his last Paralympics, missed a medal in Tokyo but was thrilled to snare a bronze just hours after carrying the flag for Australia at the opening ceremony.

“Carrying that flag out for Australia is literally a dream come true,” Hall said. “Then to come here tonight, back it up and win a medal for Australia … it might not have been gold, but at least it was a medal.

“I just missed a medal in Tokyo by a fingernail. This time around I was after a little bit of redemption.”

Patterson said of her silver medal: “I gave it everything I had tonight in the pool.”

Alexa Leary finished sixth in her 50m freestyle final (S10) but was swimming up a category and is a better medal chance in the 100m event.