Source : ABC NEWS
When Andrew Regan was tackled in a rugby union game three years ago, he knew something had gone catastrophically wrong.
The impact broke his neck and he lost all sensation.
“I was instantly paralysed,” he said.
“It’s one of those things you’ve replayed in your mind a million times and everything’s happening so slowly but also so quickly.
“You weigh up your decisions — should I have gone left, should I have gone right?”
An ambulance arrived at the Emus Rugby Club’s Endeavour Oval in Orange NSW, and drove him to the hospital.
The second rower was flown to Sydney, where he was declared an incomplete quadriplegic.
Andrew Regan says he wanted to reclaim the day his injury happened. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
Three years to the day, the 38-year-old returned to the site of his injury to walk 100 metres, and raise money for others injured playing the game.
“I wanted to do something to essentially reclaim the day,” Mr Regan said.
Road to recovery
Mr Regan thought he would never walk again after the tackle.
“I was just a head in a bed,”
he said.
Andrew Regan takes part in physical therapy. (Supplied: Andrew Regan)
“The first priority was just breathing again and being able to survive.”
He slowly started to experience feeling in his upper body during the first few months in hospital.
“There was a point where my hands stopped feeling like blocks of wood,” Mr Regan said.
“I could move my thumb, and that was a huge cause for celebration.
“I thought, ‘I’m starting to get movement from parts of the body that aren’t supposed to be moving. Where’s this going to end up’.”
About seven months after his accident, he started feeling spasms in his legs.
The twitches were encouraged by electrodes sparking his muscles during treatment, while he tried to push pedals on an exercise bike.
He also went through significant physical treatment, including hydrotherapy, to create a connection between his mind and his limbs.
Andrew Regan with his family celebrate his graduation from hospital care to rehabilitation. (Supplied: Andrew Regan)
Two years after the accident, he was able to stand up with support.
“I’d always faint and black out and have to sit down, but after a while that just sort of went away and didn’t cause issues anymore,” Mr Regan said.
“I was getting so good at standing up that your thoughts naturally go, ‘If I can stand, can I walk’.
Andrew Regan has attended specialist rehabilitation centres and exercised daily. (Supplied: Andrew Regan)
“We’ve got to the point now where it’s actually realistic to say let’s try and walk 100 metres.”
Flight of the Emu
After exercising every day and attending physiotherapy twice a week, Mr Reagan set out to conquer Endeavour Oval in Orange.
He was flanked by supporters running on either side of him, yelling words of encouragement.
Mr Regan took breaks along the way to wait out the spasms.
“Everything was seizing up — we’re talking back, arms, legs, hips — it was really hard going,” he said.
Andrew Regan spent an hour walking 100 metres across Endeavour Oval. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
“Spasms are incredibly destabilising … it was really hard towards the end.”
His supporters formed a corridor and waved sparklers below the floodlights as he crossed the try line.
“It was incredibly hard to stay focused and not get emotional,” he said.
“It really is the culmination of three years of recovery and hard work, and to have so many people surrounding me, it was a really nice moment.“
The event raised $28,000 for the Emus Foundation, which was launched after Mr Regan’s accident.
The organisation was created to financially support regional players who were injured on the rugby field.
“I’m very lucky, but other people aren’t as lucky as me,” Mr Regan said.
“There’s just so many unknown costs.
“For example, I’m about to run out of funding in my NDIS budget for physio for the year — I’ve put everything into this walk today.”
Support team members lift Mr Regan’s foot with a purpose-built handle. (ABC Central West: Lani Oataway)
Mr Regan’s physiotherapist, Robert Thorburn, said he was elated to watch his client achieve his goal.
“To be honest when he said it, both myself and Simon [exercise physiologist] were a bit doubtful,” he said.
“And to his credit, he’s just amazing.”
Mr Thorburn said the next step in his client’s journey would be trying to walk unassisted.
“When we’re working with him it’s always an unknown but it’s always so amazing when he achieves what he has,” he said.
“Not all patients are as determined as Reegs is.“
EDITOR’S NOTE: Andrew Regan is the husband of an ABC employee.
