Alex Mckinnon

Alex Mckinnon and his wife share their joyful baby news

Four years after suffering a devastating spinal-cord injury during a rugby league game and six months after achieving his goal of standing at his wedding, former Newcastle Knights rugby league player Alex Mckinnon has announced that he and his wife, Teigan, are expecting their first child together. Revealing the news via social media, Mckinnon posted a photo of himself and Teigan, 24, with an ultrasound image and the message: “Baby Mckinnon coming soon.” Expanding on the news on her Instagram account, the ecstatic primary-school teacher posted the same photograph, saying she was “so overwhelmed with joy” to be able to announce her pregnancy. In a separate post the couple indicated their baby was due in October.

Since a tackle in a 2014 NRL game between the Knights and Melbourne Storm left Mckinnon a quadriplegic, the 26-year-old’s road to recovery has been well publicised, from the development of movement in his arms to regaining his driver’s licence and making that determined pledge to stand next to his bride at their 2017 wedding. But Mckinnon has conceded parts of his recovery journey have been incredibly difficult, particularly immediately after the incident when he was filled with anger. He said he learned to let go of that emotion after he watched a TV interview he had given on the Nine Network’s Sixty Minutes in 2015. “I just didn’t like the way I looked. It just wasn’t me,” he told Fox Sports’ League Life, adding he realised he needed to “move on.”

Which, with the love and support of Teigan, he has. Even before their wedding, Mckinnon said they talked “all the time” about starting a family: “My father played a massive role in my life and still does ... I’d love to be a father one day.” •