She became a quadriplegic when she was 12. Her story is inspiring.

By STACEY COPAS

I remember vividly the day my life changed forever.  It was a hot Sunday afternoon in early December 1990 and I was 12 years old.  My Dad was going to play indoor cricket and my younger brother and I had a choice of going to watch him play or going to a relative’s place for a swim.  Clearly no contest there!

Mum and Dad dropped us off for an afternoon of swimming with our cousins and headed off to the indoor cricket centre.  We literally ran straight through the house to the pool, shedding our clothes as we got to the backyard ready to cool off. 

Not being content just splashing around with the other younger boys I climbed up on to the edge of the pool – an above ground pool with a narrow colour bond metal type edge on the sides – and dived into the shallow water.  That was so much more fun.  This didn’t go unnoticed and I got yelled at to stop. 

Being 12 years old, bullet proof and invincible these warnings of potential harm went in one ear and out the other.  Time after time I climbed up, steadied myself and dove into the cool water.  I was unhappy with the way my legs flopped as I dived in so I climbed up on to the ledge once more, determined that this dive was going to be perfect.  I focused on keeping my legs together as I dove in and launched myself.  It was very strange.  I wasn’t aware of anything going wrong but when I tried to swim to the surface like I had done every dive before this one I found that I couldn’t move.  I felt no pain but after a few seconds the panic set in.

I could see the other boys splashing around and I tried desperately to move.  I held my breath as long as I could but when I couldn’t hold it any longer I gave in and took a breath and blacked out as my lungs filled with water. Eventually my brother realised something was wrong and pulled me out of the pool.  I was rushed by ambulance to the local hospital and have vague recollections of fading in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital.  At the hospital I remember my precious swimming costume being cut from me and a buzz of people around.

Later that night after a helicopter airlift and another ambulance ride I ended up in intensive care at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.  It was there that I was told that I had broken my neck and drowned and that I would never walk again.  At that time it certainly was a devastating blow and the end of my life as I knew it and had planned it.  My initial thoughts were that I’d prove them wrong but that was being my feisty self.

Fast forward many years on and I was to realise that this event was actually going to change my life for the better.  Most people find it hard to believe that ending up a quadriplegic and needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of my life is a positive thing but after spending some time with me they quickly realise that I am truly happy about it.  I’ve done things with my life that I can say with certainty that I would never have done otherwise.

I am now 35 and these days I have the most amazing life – a life I still sometimes find quite surreal.  Not being able to walk or use my hands and arms fully has not held me back. I now run my own business where I help others come to terms with life challenges as an expert on resilience, as a keynote speaker, trainer and author.

I am in training for (state and national titles) for discus and the 100m sprint and I’m aiming for Gold in Rio Paralympics in 2016.  I’ve just won my first Gold Medal in 100m at state level to go with a Gold and Bronze at state level and Silver at the National level last year in discus.

My passion is to help those who have gone through dramatic life changes or who are just finding it hard to find the opportunities in their adversity. I am currently writing a book, which gives a complete practical blueprint on how to embrace life’s challenges and am excited to be self-publishing it. To self-publish I need to raise $10,000, which will be funded through people preordering the book, while enabling me to involve my future readers in a process that is normally behind closed doors.

To get involved in self-publishing campaign and to preorder Stacey’s book go to: https://publishizer.com/how-to-be-resilient/