At only 18 years, this teen’s life was ripped apart

NED DESBROW WAS 18-YEARS-OLD WHEN HIS LIFE GOT LITERALLY RIPPED APART, BUT IT HASN’T SLOWED HIM DOWN IN THE SLIGHTEST

Working out in the small town of Tara one morning, Ned Desbrow was pulling tree trunks from scrub after they’d been cut down.

Up on the pivot plate of a skidder (a machine used for pulling up cut trees) Ned was trying to direct the cable so it wouldn’t ‘catch.’

His left leg got snagged on the wire and it went downhill from there.

“It got half way down my left leg and felt that it had serious injuries,” Ned says.

“I then thought if I release the line it will set me free, but it just kept on pulling.”

An emergency Lifeflight team was called out and the critical care doctors from the aeromedical team were forced to perform the amputation on-site.

It was a day Ned would never forget.

“What I remember most was calling my mother Melita; also my brother Ben.

“I remember life flashing before my eyes, I remember not even thinking it was a real situation and lastly I remember saying I wasn’t going to die that day and I stuck to it and fought.”

Ned is now left with roughly 100 millimetres of bone and muscle in his left leg and he questioned whether he could ever do the things he loved again.

“Was I ever going to be able to stand or walk again?” Ned asked himself.

“To be honest I haven’t missed anything really,” he says.

“I made a promise to myself early in that I wouldn’t let it change my life.

“I have to learn things I wish I never had to learn, but in a way the accident showed me just how precious being alive is.”

Before the accident, Ned says he was going through some personal issues.

“While I was stuck (in the machine), a lot of my life and important people flashed before my eyes,” Ned says.

“Losing a limb has inspired me a great deal, I’ve always heard ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’ and that’s exactly right.

“Yeah, I have my bad days and good but for the most part I’m really excited for the future.”

Ned loves being outdoors, skateboarding and motorbike riding, and the fear of never being able to enjoy these pastimes once more has not been much of an issue as he finds himself around both most days.

“Well, I can’t go out and ride like I used to, but I am surely not staying off the both of them,” Ned says.

He’s even relearned how to do both again.

“I’ve managed to learn to ‘ollie’ on a skateboard and ride a motorbike.

“I grew up with both cultures around and you learn to love them.

“It’s not just a hobby, it’s kind of something you really pay attention to and, for me, both of the sports inspire me, so I can’t let go,” he said.

“Skateboarding has always been very close to me growing up and moto (-bike riding), so I’d really like to be up there in both [career] industries.”

Ironically, there is no hurdle that Ned hasn’t overcome, even starting the clothing line Funkyg’s.

“Funkyg’s is a brand that has been in my head for a long time.

“With some help I have been able to come out with some pretty cool designs.

“The point of Funky G’s is that it’s for the people, by the people and I’m a big believer in looking good and feeling good, so just trying to create my mark I want to leave and be remembered by,” Ned says.

Although it’s still early days, Ned knows exactly where he wants to take Funkyg’s — and that’s to the top and with the best.

“Some people say that it’s not gonna happen but it’s not about those people, it’s about the ones that do. “I won’t stop at anything!”

Ned continues to have phantom pain from time to time and recently received his first trial prosthetic leg and is so far practising the general standing and weight movement until his new one arrives.

“It is a weird aspect to put all of your weight and actually rely on that limb again, and I’m bony so it can get really uncomfortable.”

He wouldn’t wish this accident upon anyone, although Ned says he found his true friends during this time.

“It opens your eyes a lot and yeah it’s sad to think you’d care for others if they were here, but they don’t care back - but that’s the way it is and again you can’t change it.”

Drive and determination are two major positives which Ned has noticed have come since the accident, he refers to himself as neither an amputee or disabled – instead he prefers the term ‘on the way to normal.’

“I’ve got to say a big thankyou to my mum, my dad, my big brother Ben — just my whole family and to the friends that came when I was at the lowest moments of my life,” Ned says.

“Do what you’re good at and do what you love with the people you love, and you’ll never ever run into a reason to stop, happiness is important.”

‘‘ Was I ever going to be able to stand or walk again?” NED DESBROW