Boxer giving back after biggest fight
nicholas.mcelroy@news.com.au SEVEN years ago, fighter Romeo Le Thorn was sedated in hospital for MRI scans and woke to a nightmare so dark doctors said he would never walk again.
Doctors detected a tumour on his spine and removed it while he was under: “You know how you kink a hose and it stops the water getting through? Well, that’s how they explained it to me. They said the tumour had cut off all the nerves which run to my legs,” the Murwillumbah man explained.
“Everything from the (lower back) tumour down, I lost all feeling and movement. Everything. I couldn’t move. Not at all.”
Mr Le Thorn was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, from prison, where he was serving nine months for car theft.
Now, after countless hours of rehabilitation, the 32-yearold wants to formally thank those who got him back on his feet.
He said he would take on some of the toughest 80kg fighters in the country next month for the $50,000 purse at the Ozzie Toughman boxing competition.
Mr Le Thorn, who undergoes regular treatment on his spine, said he aimed to raise money for the hospital where he learned to walk again.
“(In the beginning) I started getting sharp pains in the big toe on my left foot.
“Doctors said ‘no, no, no, you can’t feel anything, it’s all in your head’, but I could move my months.”
Mr Le Thorn, who said he was embarrassed about his dark days in prison, spent six months in bed in hospital and another three in the spinal unit at Princess Alexandra.
He left being able to “shuffle” his legs using crutches.
“Basically, I was taking my entire weight on the crutches and pushing my foot with every step.
“I ditched three that.
“It was all stubbornness really. I got one of those exercise bikes and put it in my room. big ROMEO LE THORN toe after crutches months six (another) after
“Everything I owe is to the PA Hospital. I want to give back to the hospital that helped me walk again.”
PA Research Foundation CEO Damian Topp said Mr Le Thorn had reached out to raise money for the foundation. The boxer talking openly about his health made a big difference, he added.
“Blokes are pretty bad at speaking up and we’re not living as long as females largely because we don’t talk about our own health – we’re asking men to own it,” Mr Topp said.
Mr Le Thorn has started a crowd-funding page online with a modest fundraising goal of $500.