Will Elrick's Story Overcoming the odds In 1997 I had a horrific motor vehicle accident involving a head on collision. As a result I lay in a coma for five weeks during which time my heart stopped beating on three occasions. In addition and as a result of the accident I sustained severe bruising of the brain, a smashed pelvis and lacerated liver, a fractured spine and crushed legs. Fortunately, the surgeons were able to save my left leg however my right leg had to be amputated from the hip. Several times in the early period of my hospitalisation the doctors considered turning off the life support but luckily they didn’t. Whilst I was in the hospital, I lost 40 kilos in weight and also contracted pneumonia. After coming out of the coma I later had operations to repair a blocked kidney and a compressed nerve in my left arm. In addition, I had to undergo speech therapy to learn how to speak properly again as well as occupational therapy to learn how to use my hands once again. All of this was done while enduring the phantom pain from the nerves leading to my missing leg, these pains were so intense and overwhelming it overshadowed all other pain. After being in hospital for two and a half months it took another six months of therapy for me to fully recover. I will always have enormous gratitude to the outstanding hospital staff that helped me through this time. Prior to my accident, my occupation was a Bricklayer and after recovering from my accident I managed a Café in Canberra for one year, following this I commenced and completed studies in natural medicine. During this time I worked at improving my fitness and continued to do so in order to work towards many physical challenges that would be difficult for most ‘able bodied’ people let alone someone with a disability such as mine. In July 1999 I successfully climbed the Three Sisters at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney using rope and belay from bottom to top. In December 1999 I trekked the Inca Trail in Peru on crutches carrying my own backpack all the way. In August 2002 I competed at the Disabled World Cup in cycling and equalled the Australian record and came twelfth in the one kilometre time trial. In August 2005 I participated in the Sydney Oxfam trail walker event and completed the walk in twenty five hours on crutches, receiving the State Street "Overcoming the Odds" Award. In 2002 I graduated with a Diploma of Remedial Massage from the Australian College of Natural Therapies (ACNT). After this I began lecturing in Sports Protocols at the College as well as supervising students doing their practical training at the ACNT clinic. I have also lectured in and taught Advanced Massage at the college. My Journey The journey so far has worked perfectly and is all going to plan passing all the needed tests in which, to see if I am qualified to climb. NZ was the first of the many challenges on this journey. The next part weas the 900km trek across Spain on the Camino de Santiago which I finished in 5 and half weeks and the beautiful, challenging, historical path was just amazing. I then travelled to Nepal was the biggest challenge in front of me at the time. My first time in real altitude to reach the summit of the mountain Mera Peak 6476m. This climb really pushed me to the limits, with out of season snow condtions which was knee deep and very tough ploughing through on crutches. So far it has been such an amazing journey and I am so grateful for what I have seen and the opportunities so far.
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