COMEBACK TRAIL
Former mountain biker chases golf dream after recovery from paralyzing crash
When Josh Kujundzic came to, he was lying face down in the dirt, unable to move his arms or legs.
He remembered riding his mountain bike off a small jump at the top of a trail he often took near Simon Fraser University, but he didn’t realize he had been unconscious for several hours after crashing headfirst into a tree. There was simply the realization he couldn’t move, or speak, or feel pain.
“There was zero feeling in my body,” he recalled in a recent interview.
Kujundzic came to the terrifying conclusion that a crash may have left him a quadriplegic. He felt strangely calm as he realized it was evening and the trail was unmarked. He prepared himself for a long night.
“I’ve always been a positive person,” he said. “After everything that’s happened, I believe that’s so important.”
Almost six years later, Kujundzic is applying positive thinking to a new challenge: a career in professional golf.
After an amazing recovery, the 24-year-old Vancouver man now spends a good part of every day at Quilchena Golf & Country Club in Richmond and plays on the Vancouver Golf Tour. He hopes to rack up enough good rounds to make the Mackenzie Tour (the Canadian PGA tour) and eventually the PGA Tour.
“Whatever happens, I know I want to do something in the game of golf,” Kujundzic said.
He also wants to inspire young people with spinal injuries to stay positive.
Back in 2011, lying motionless in the darkening forest, he began to feel a tingling in his legs. The sensation grew increasingly intense until he found he could move his lower body and was able to scramble into a sitting position. He tried to move his arms, but they flailed uselessly.
“It’s like the messages weren’t getting through,” he said.
Kujundzic stumbled up the steep trail, falling several times, until he reached a road. Unable to wave down a car, he staggered down the centre of the road, hoping someone would stop. Two students eventually came along and called 911. An ambulance took him to Royal Columbian Hospital.
Doctors found the impact had caused Kujundzic’s spinal cord to swell, pinching it and causing paralysis. In some cases, the swelling leads to permanent damage, but as Kujundzic’s swelling subsided, he regained movement in his limbs.
He spent three weeks at RCH before he had a laminectomy, a surgery to remove some of the bones in the spinal canal to reduce compression.
Because of the nerve damage, Kujundzic was in incredible pain. But with physio and time, he was able to get back on his feet. He credits the doctors and staff at the hospital for their “unbelievable care and attention.”
Just one year after the crash, he was back on his mountain bike.
“I made a point of it on the anniversary of the accident,” he said. “But I’d say my mountain biking days are behind me.”
Watching Jordan Spieth win the 2015 Masters Tournament at the age of 21, Kujundzic was inspired to return to golf, which he played in high school.
“I was bedridden for a long time,” he said. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to tie my shoes again.
“I have a new appreciation for life and gratitude for being here. So I’m going to stay positive and see where it takes me.”