Horror fall leaves man paraplegic after tree 'cuts spine in half'
A Sydney man has revealed how a day out changed his life forever after his spine was snapped in half following a fall down an embankment onto a tree, leaving him paraplegic.
Adam Cook, 27, was at property backing onto Ku-ring-gai National Park north of Sydney on January 28 when he fell eight metres down an embankment, according to a GoFundMe page.
“My spine was basically cut in half between my sternum and my belly button,” Mr Cook told Yahoo7 News.
“It was pretty freakin’ intense. I broke seven ribs and punctured a lung, and with that much force in the fall the spinal cord snapped affecting my nervous system.”
One of Mr Cook’s friends rushed to his aid. He had landed on his back and was falling in and out of consciousness. The then-26-year-old can only remember “snippets” of what happened, but he was told he had been impaled on the tree.
He was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital and placed in an induced coma for three days including a week in the ICU.
‘I didn’t ask about my injury for the first day or so’
X-Rays of his spine show it split in two. One of Mr Cook’s friends, a radiologist, showed it to colleagues who couldn’t believe he survived – it’s a sentiment doctors who treated him share too.
“I didn’t ask about my injury for the first day or so,” Mr Cook said.
“I was bracing myself. I waited until my mum and my partner Amy were in the room and asked whether I could walk again.
“The answer was a flat-out ‘no’.”
Mr Cook’s horrific injuries left him a T8 Complete Paraplegic. He’s been told he will never walk, have control of or feeling below the waist again.
“I was probably a bit naive at the time and said to the doctor, ‘What the f*** do you know?’” he said.
He spent three months in hospital, which he said involved more than 90 days of being “prodded and poked” and told “constantly” that he will never be able to walk.
“That’s a journey I’m on – to walk again,” Mr Cook said.
“It’s a long-term process though, but there’s also new technology too and if I’m in a position to take advantage of it I’ll be ready.”
He’s since seen specialists and spoken to other victims with severe spinal injuries adding, “there’s some light at the end of the tunnel”.
‘That tree basically saved me’
Mr Cook said despite his injuries the tree may have saved his life.
“I could have fallen another eight or 10 metres down the embankment and died,” Mr Cook said.
“So that tree basically saved me. I’m also lucky I didn’t land on my front as it could have damaged my internal organs.”
Mr Cook has also chronicled his recovery on Instagram.
The 27-year-old said after being stripped of his independence – having to move home to his parents’ house in the Shire and cut his work hours down to two days a week – he’s managed to regain some of it.
“I got my driver’s licence and a modified car,” he said.
“I’m also trying to scale up my workload slowly. It’s hard because normally I was doing 10 things in one day, I can now only do six or seven of them before I’m exhausted.
“I also can’t clean the bedsheets – so there’s a silver lining I guess.”
Another silver lining is the support he’s received from friends, family and the wider community.
“My partner Amy has been incredible as has the rest of my family,” he said.
“The support has been overwhelming with people not just donating money but advice and things like books and contacts.
“I’ve also come to appreciate how little value there is in money, and want to do advocacy work for people with disabilities. Hopefully I can inspire others and push for better access to buildings and public transport.”
His focus however still remains on stepping out of the wheelchair. His progress physically evident in an Instagram video from April 27 of time trial sprints in his wheelchair around Prince of Wales Hospital.
“My first attempt six weeks ago was a respectable 2.08 minutes, but today I managed 1.31 minutes,” he wrote.
“For some reason I believed that it would in some way mean that I would have accepted being resigned to a life in a wheelchair. I’m so grateful my attitude matured and I’ve attacked every challenge thrown at me, including mastering a wheelchair (I can pop mad wheelies).”
Mr Cook told Yahoo7 News he will walk again.
“I’m still going after all of this,” he said.
“There’s not much that can stop me.”
