Swing and a prayer
Car crash fightback
RISING golfer Ben Henkel was millimetres away from never walking again.
The margin between him being able to pick up his clubs and spending his life in a wheelchair — or even death — was the medical equivalent of a lip out.
There was the physical injury — a fractured C1 vertebra — but also the mental recovery, which he has only recently overcome.
It’s approaching 18 months since Henkel, 19, was in a car accident with his ex-girlfriend on Blackgate Road on the outskirts of Torquay.
It was 11pm on a March evening and Henkel’s Mitsubish Lancer was collected by a kangaroo in a 100km/h zone.
Shock and adrenaline masked the seriousness of the injury and Henkel continued driving.
On his way home he realised that something wasn’t right. He arrived at an intersection and as he turned to look he found he couldn’t move his neck.
“I’m lucky to be walking,” Henkel said of the injury that was eventually revealed as a fractured C1.
“When the shock wore off of what actually happened — my head started spinning, could barely move my neck because it started to seize up,” he said. “I was only in hospital for a day or so and they said I could go and just recover at home, take some medication and take it easy.
“That was when it started — being part of a couch and just laying in bed all day.”
Only a few months before Henkel had completed Year 12 studies at St Joseph’s College and was chasing his dream of becoming a professional golfer.
His days since school finished had been consumed by golf and part-time work. .
But the mental toll of the injury and spending months ths in a neck brace left the Clifton lifton Springs golfer questioning ing whether he would play y again.
He was depressed and had doubts as to whether he still had the ability to make a career out of the sport.
“Going from playing golf everyday and workking to doing absolutely ely nothing, having to rely y on people for lifts and getting around, basically just feeling stuck at home,” he said.
“I obviously had my girlfriend at the time helping me a lot, I had a really good group of mates making sure I wasn’t stuck at home.
“They were all a really big part of me getting back into golf.
“It was tough to find that passion again. I just lost it. I really wasn’t interested anymore.
“I kept pushing, playing golf with mates, practising and having my family helping with making sure I’m going to golf, gym, go see the osteo — at least do something to get back to where I was.” Coach Kel Llewe wellyn was also importa portant, he said.
“He’ “He’s definitely one of my closest friends as well, even though he’s 80-odd and I’m 19 — you could even say best friend. I get along with him really well,” he said. Henkel still deals with headaches, back and neck issues but has reduced his handicap to +4.
“It took me a long time to get out of that hole from obviously possibly dying or being paralysed to being all right and playing golf,” he said.
“It’s kind of changed my attitude as well — changes with how I play golf. I was always competitive, bit of a hothead and always had a chip on my shoulder when I played golf because I always wanted to play well and play good shots.
“My coach has seen improvements in my mental space — you knew if I was upset so I’m much more in control of everything.
“I’ve never really talked about it openly like I am right now because I’m not that type of person.
“All my mates knew my struggle, parents, but they’ve all been really good with it.”
Henkel wants to repay his family, friends and Llewellyn for helping him get back out on the course. “They do a lot for me so the only thing I can do is try and play some good golf for them,” he said.
“They’ve all been massive my mates, Mum and Dad and my family.”