How chair helped man
BRYAN Flemming was a competitive motocross racer and coach before an accident left him with quadriplegia in 2009.
“I was out coaching a young rider in motocross on his property and I made a rookie error by clicking a neutral gear over a jump and landed on my head,” he said.
“Lying there, I didn’t know what I had done as I could not get up. In no time at all I was getting picked up by a helicopter; lucky for me they were in the air already and reached my location much quicker.
“Next minute I was in ICU at the PA getting an operation to fix my broken neck, then on a breathing machine which was keeping me alive.”
The Toowoomba man registered with and has been supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) since 2017.
He said the funding continues to help him regain his independence and access his community.
“I wanted to be active with my daughters again, and I wanted to regain as much as I could of the life I had before my accident,” he said.
“I was an adventurous person. I always liked to keep fit running every morning and doing my gym workouts, riding mountain bikes with my daughters and racing motocross.”
Funding for vital pieces of assistive technology, such as wheelchairs, and personal care support has allowed him to live much more independently.
“Recently I went with my two daughters, my brother and two friends and did the 160km Brisbane Valley Rail Trail,” he said.
“We treated it as an adventure and a challenge just like the old days.
“Assistive technology is allowing me to go and do these things making me feel a real part of the community.”