Determination the key for Jayden
The day before his 17th birthday, Jayden Warn hopped into the front seat of his friend’s car, placing his BMX in the back as they headed for The Shed in Cranbourne.
He didn’t know it yet, but that day, his life would change forever.
Pulled up on the side of the road near the Drouin-Princes Hwy overpass, his friend slowly pulled back out, not seeing the car hurtling towards them at 100km/h an hour. It was too late.
The car slammed into the passenger side door where Jayden was sitting. He was wearing a seatbelt, but was still thrown from the car, his legs tangling in the belt as the car was pushed up the embankment.
“I don’t actually remember much of the crash. I remember seeing a light and the impact, but then only later the paramedic who was my mum’s best friend. It was her first major car accident she had been to, and it was me,” Jayden said.
Severely injured, but alive, he was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition. It took around two hours to stabilise Jayden, who said he couldn’t feel anything from the neck down.
After being moved to the Austin Hospital, Jayden underwent a nine-hour surgery. He had shattered his C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae in the crash.
“It was actually the whiplash in the crash that shattered those, I also broke my T1, 2 and 3, my sternum, had internal bleeding, bruising on my brain and a laceration on my liver,” he said.
Following surgery to fuse his vertebrae together, Jayden was told he would never walk again, leaving him a C5 incomplete quadriplegic.
“All I knew when I woke up was I’d been in a car accident, I just figured I’d been in a crash. All I kept saying in trauma was about BMX riding and when I could do that again.
The doctors came in and gave me the typical movie speech as I put it, telling me I wouldn’t be able to walk again. I pretty much just waited for them to finish and I told them where to go in a blunt term,” he said.
“I was angry at the whole situation. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I was frustrated with the world. I’ve never, to this day blamed my friend.
We are still really close to this day, but after plenty of lectures from mum, I ended up changing my tune,” he said.
Angry, depressed and wondering what was next, Jayden decided to channel his inner determination the weeks following. Despite being told he wouldn’t walk again, he stood with some assistance just a month after the accident, before moving into the five months of rehab that would follow his second eight-hour surgery to strengthen his neck.
It was at the Royal Talbot Rehab Centre that Jayden was introduced to wheelchair rugby.
“In rehab, I’d never heard of wheelchair rugby. At the time I was there, one of the ex-wheelchair rugby players came and spoke to me about a little training session,” he said.
Jayden accepted the offer and went along to the session where he instantly fell in love with the sport.
“Once a week we’d jump in the chairs and from the moment I got in one, I was hooked, that was it, it was love at first sight,” he said.
For Jayden, BMX riding was his escape before the accident. Now, losing his ability to ride, he turned to rugby to give him a release.
“Rugby for me was a massive thing, mentally and physically. Mentally though, it was my escape, I could forget about everything else and I could turn to rugby and vent, smash people around and it really helped me deal with everything,” he said.
Even after Jayden finished his stint in rehab, he would continue to go down each week for a push with the guys, realising that maybe wheelchair rugby could be a career opportunity for him.
Originally, Jayden wanted to go into the military out of high school, but now, he thought he could represent his country in a different way.
Jayden continued up through the ranks, playing in a local competition before moving on to the Victorian team. In 2012, he watched on as the Australian Steelers won their first ever Paralympic gold medal at the London games and his drive inside came out.
“From the moment I saw them win that at the end of 2012, I was like, that’s what I want to do, that’s me, that’s my goal,” he said.
Jayden finished his studies at Warragul Regional College, who helped him throughout his journey, giving him resources and the opportunity to finish VCE while training.
He finished year 12 in 2012 and at the end of the year, received a call from the Australian Steelers head coach to come and join in a training.
“He asked me if I would like to come and have a push with the Australian team at a training camp at the beginning of 2013, and the rest was history, I made the squad and the focus was on Rio,” he said.
Jayden was by far the youngest player on the Aussie Steelers side. At just 18 years of age, he found himself playing alongside teammates with vast life experience.
“They called me the baby of the group for a long time,” he laughed. “Now luckily there is a player who is one year younger than me, so I got rid of that nickname,” he added.
He would train four to five days a week in the city, while continuing to live in Warragul with his family. Some days, he would spend three or more hours driving back and forth from training, which is situated at Essendon Football Club’s Tullamarine base. He travels the furthest distance of those on the squad, showing the commitment to the sport he’s truly fallen in love with.
He’s travelled all over the globe competing, from South Africa, to Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Rio De Janeiro.
“It’s been incredible. To be able to play and travel the world and represent our country, it’s been a pretty great gig for me, especially being so young,” he said.
The pinnacle for Jayden though, was going to Rio in 2016 to compete at his first Paralympic games. Arriving in Brazil, the overwhelming amount of people, security and atmosphere was something he’d never experienced before.
Australia was favourite going into the tournament after their triumph in London and world championship win in Denmark two years earlier, which saw every team gunning to take down the top side.
The team lived up to expectations and found themselves with the chance to win back to back gold medals when they faced their archrivals, the USA, in the gold medal clash.
The game would go down as one of the greatest wheelchair rugby matches of all time. Australia prevailed in double overtime by just one goal, sending the stadium, Jayden and his teammates into a raucous celebration.
“It was absolutely crazy, just having that noise and the Brazilian crowd on our side was amazing. It’s the only Paralympic final to go to overtime, I think it will be the only one that goes to double overtime really,” he said.
“I’ve never been prouder to see the flag and sing the national anthem when we won that, it was the proudest moment of my life, it was unbelievable,” he said.
In 2017, his incredible few years were topped off when Jayden was awarded an Order of Australia medal for his victory in Rio, cementing himself in Australian history.
“It’s almost like the Australian equivalent of being knighted, I’m really proud of that, my Rio medal and OAM sit proudly next to each other,” he said.
Jayden still resides in Warragul with his wife Megan and son Nash. While he still has his tougher days, he explained how his family and friends continue to motivate him.
“Since having Nash, it’s been awesome. I want to win gold for him at Tokyo to tell him someday what I was able to do,” he said. “Between Meg, Nash, my family and friends, they’ve all been a massive support for me throughout all of this.”
Jayden also shares his story at schools throughout the region and beyond, touching on road safety and encouraging others who may be going through tough times, that it’s not the end of the world, it’s what you make of it that really counts.
“I’ve always said there’s no point worrying about something you can’t change. I still struggle, I have my down days, but I get on with it and do the best I can. Being positive helps a lot. If someone tells you that you can’t do something, you do it twice as good, that’s what I say,” he said.