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Everybody living
with a spinal cord injury
has a story to tell
about how their life
has been turned upside down
in an instant
with significant changes
and adjustments
far beyond what most
able-bodied people
could ever care to imagine.
This presentation,
Coping Beyond Adversity,
Living
with a Spinal Cord Injury,
will hopefully enlighten you
into that existence.
Hi, my name is Gary Allsopp
and I'm a quadriplegic
due to an accident playing
Australian Rules Football
in 1989.
This is my story.
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I was born
on the 20th of October 1960
and I grew up in the suburb
of North Blackburn
in the east
of Melbourne in Australia.
As long as I can remember,
I had a passion for sport,
any sport.
Tennis, golf, basketball,
it didn't really matter.
But particularly, cricket
and Australian Rules Football.
Another great love of mine
growing up was music.
I always knew
the latest songs in the charts
and on the radio
as well as having
a fairly extensive
record collection.
In the early 1980s,
somehow both of these
passions came together
when I decided to start DJ-ing
at several functions
at my football club,
which led to a professional
and lucrative
DJ and singing career
that lasted up until
my accident.
It was in this industry
that I met my wife
who was a dancer.
And we married in 1987,
bought a new house, our life
could not have been better
until one day, fate stepped in.
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It was April 29, 1989 playing
for my local football club,
Warrandyte
when I ran onto the field,
full of confidence not knowing
what lay ahead in my future.
It was in the first quarter
of the game
when I ran in with my head down
to pick up the ball
with someone directly
chasing me behind.
As I bent down, another player
came in from the front
and bumped me
directly on my head,
forcing my neck
downwards and immediately
I collapsed unconscious.
I was stretchered off the ground
and I came to
in the dressing rooms,
not knowing exactly
what had happened to myself.
All I knew was that I could
not feel my arms and legs
and I was screaming in pain
like I had never
experienced before.
Even then I was not aware
of what was going on
and how my future
would turn out.
I was transported
to the Spinal Unit
at the Austin Hospital
via helicopter.
My life had significantly changed
right there and now
in one second with one bump
playing the sport
that I had grown up loving.
The irony of the situation
was that I could have been
at a friend
of my wife's wedding
but I chose not
to let the team down
and play football instead.
They say life is a series
of choices that we make.
Unfortunately, I chose
the wrong option that day,
but hindsight
is a wonderful thing.
