True grit – Suellen tells us to stay positive, always

GETTING BACK UP AND GOING FOR GOLD

That April holiday at the coast is fast approaching and I still haven’t lost my winter tummy. I don’t have time to hit the gym and it won’t help anyway. These were my thoughts on a chilly Monday morning not too long ago, while on my way to meet Suellen Vaughn. I left our meeting less than an hour later, astonished at what you can accomplish if you really wanted to. Suellen is a soft-spoken powerhouse of motivation, positive thoughts and sheer willpower. She is a mum of two young kids, she works notoriously long and inconvenient hours as a nurse and she is an athlete who recently represented Australia at two major sporting events in Denmark and at home. She also has a spine-chilling, yet inspirational story to tell of overcoming mountainous hurdles in life. In July this year, she competed in the Fynske Bank Multisport World Championships and entered the duathlon sprint – a gruelling 5 kilometre run, followed by a 20km bike race and another 2.5km run. She finished as the fastest Australian female, and 15th in her age group overall. Suellen has always been athletic and participated in many different sports while in school. “I always seemed able to just pick things up, whether it was netball or athletics, or whatever, but my background is cycling and I only turned to triathlons about 15 years ago,” she said when I asked how she got into duathlons and triathlons. About a month after our meeting, Suellen competed in the 2018 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final. For the event, more than 5000 athletes from over 46 countries descended on the Southport Broadwater Parklands to swim, run, and cycle their way to the finish line. She again proudly crossed the finish line in the green and gold – this time, in full view of her friends and family – and completed the race in 26th place out of 58 people in her age group. Knowing her strongest section of the race would be cycling, she wanted to make up as much time here as possible. “I’m not a swimmer,” she laughed and added that she finished as the second fastest cyclist. “It was the best race I could’ve asked for,” she said. For a nurse, who can work anything from day shifts, to late shifts and night duty in any given week, organisation is key. Not to mention the fact that Suellen is also mum to a three year old boy, Zac, and a five year old girl, Ava, who need her love and attention. How can one woman possibly find the time to organise her kids, spend time with them, work odd hours, and train roughly 12 hours a week? In summary, ‘teamwork’. Suellen and her husband, Justin, plan their schedules every week and distribute tasks amongst themselves, to make sure everyone is looked after. “It’s very much a juggle. We sit down every Sunday, get out our diaries and work out who’s doing drop-off, who’s doing pick-up, when I’m training and when he can play golf (so he gets a bit of time out too),” she explained. Her ability to find not only the time to pursue her passion, but also the courage to do so, is staggering. After all, she has survived two bad head injuries in her life which would put

You can think of it two ways – you can think, ‘why me’, or you can think, ‘I’m lucky to be here’.

most people off cycling for good, but she keeps getting back on her bike. About 14 years ago, Suellen had her first accident. She and Justin were about to go on a work-travel holiday and had both resigned their positions at work. She was teaching Justin how to mountain bike ride and the two of them were coming down a mountain, when Suellen crashed. She broke her clavicle and hit her head hard enough for her brain to haemorrhage, ending up in the ICU. The damage done to her brain was significant. “It was basically like I’d had a stroke. One side of my face dropped, and my speech, memory, and processing were affected,” said Suellen. Six months of intensive rehabilitation, occupational therapy and speech therapy followed. She had a narrow escape, but it would not be her last brush with death. She had her second accident in 2011. She was on a training ride with a friend, going through a roundabout, when a car hit them. The driver hadn’t seen them and this time, Suellen fractured her skull. The fracture extended into her middle ear, breaking one bone and dislocating two others. Fortunately, despite being injured herself, Suellen’s friend managed to call an ambulance.

Again, Suellen went through a six month return-to-work program and intensive rehabilitation therapy.

This second accident, however, resulted in life-long issues for Suellen.

“I’m partially deaf now and I have no sense of smell,” she said.

But, despite these accidents, Suellen still very much loves cycling and pursues her goals with an intense drive. She is deeply conscious of the fact that she could have died, but survived instead and came out the other end with a whole life to live. “I can still walk and run and do what I love. I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. I am very lucky to be here,” she said, adding that this motivates her to keep going. “You can think of it two ways – you can think, ‘why me’, or you can think, ‘I’m lucky to be here’,” she said. During both accidents, Suellen was wearing a helmet and was lucky to be with someone who could get her an ambulance. She and Justin teach their kids about the importance of wearing helmets and following the rules of the road, but know all too well accidents happen despite these precautions. “I hope to make people aware of cyclists. I know there are cyclists out there who don’t follow the rules, but there are a lot of us that do,” she said. Next time you are stuck behind a group of cyclists on your way to work, remember that some, like Suellen, might be training for their dream. They might have worked a late shift before dropping their kids at school, and this might be their only chance to train. If you follow the road rules and pay attention to your surroundings, you might even spot Suellen one morning, training hard as ever. Her goals include the National Championships for duathlon in Victoria in October. “I’d love to finish on the podium,” she said. Good luck, Suellen! It looks like I’ll be going to the gym after all.