When Beau Vernon awoke in hospital after a catastrophic accident on the footy field, he could never have imagined his best sporting moments would be yet to come.
Six weeks earlier, in mid-2012, he’d suffered a critical injury to his C5-C6 vertebrae from an accident on the footy field thatBeau Vernon has experienced all the emotions sport has to offer. He’s making his Paralympics debut in Paris.And after he was transferred from hospital to a rehab facility, where he was to spend the next eight months, it all became too much to cope with.“I couldn’t turn on the TV, I couldn’t itch my face, I couldn’t go to the toilet by myself – I couldn’t do anything.
“He worked, he had his second kid on the way, some adaptive sport, and that moment for me, and particularly, my family, I think, just provided a lot of hope and optimism that, despite living life in a wheelchair and having the range of movement we had, you can still live a really good, happy life.” “If I’d been told back in the day when I had my accident that those were the muscles I’d still have working for me, and I’d shut my eyes and try to visualise that person, there’s no way I’d think anyone would be capable of doing the things that I am capable of doing, and there’s no way I’d think that person could be happy or living a fulfilling life, either.Vernon’s positivity radiates around anyone he comes across, and he’s always looking for ways to help people.
“I was also lucky to have my mum, who was very loving and caring. She’d cuddle me, and just the way she’d make me feel loved, and make sure that I’d feel my emotions.” Vernon worked at AFL House and went back to local footy – first to the Leongatha Parrots, and then to the Phillip Island Bulldogs. They were the local Gippsland teams he’d played for, and it was while playing for the Parrots that he was injured.He went on to coach three senior premierships in eight years as a local footy coach – including back-to-back at the Bulldogs – before an extended family holiday to Queensland after COVID provided another sliding doors moment.
“As a footy player, I was a midfielder and got a lot of the ball, and then I went to wheelchair rugby and I’m the lowest-functioning player to be on the court. You’re allowed a certain amount of points – eight points – on the court, and everyone’s got a point rating dependent on their level of function or disability. The higher-functioning players, who may be amputees where everything they’ve got works, are 3.5s, and it works down by half-point increments down to 0.5, and I’m a 0.5.
Rather than being nervous about the physicality of the sport and what it would mean for Beau, his family – including Lucy – have encouraged him to put everything into it, and they even laugh with him when he gets tipped out of his chair.
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