The Injury That Changed Everything
I want to share what it was like taking my first flight after becoming a paraplegic.
My journey began in Nepal, where I sustained my injury. Over the next 23 months, I was in and out of hospitals across multiple countries. First Pokhara, then Kathmandu, before being medevac’d by air ambulance to Bangkok. From there, I was transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, where I spent seven months, followed by fourteen months in the Brain Injury Unit at Royal Rehab in Putney.
By the time I was finally discharged in April 2020, the world was in the grip of COVID-19, and my life looked nothing like it once had.
Discharged Into Uncertainty
I had lived and worked in Auckland, New Zealand, for over 30 years. Suddenly, I found myself in Sydney with nowhere else to live. I was placed into a group home, shared accommodation for people with disabilities, in what felt like a completely foreign city.
I lived with four others, each dealing with their own mental health challenges. I too was mentally shattered by the accident and struggling to process the loss of my former life. The reality of living full-time in a wheelchair was starting to sink in, and for months I couldn’t see a way forward. I felt stuck, broken, and overwhelmed.
When Safety Became an Issue
The group home wasn’t ideal, but at first it gave me shelter and breathing space. Over time, though, things became unsafe. One of the other residents became physically abusive, and on more than one occasion, the police had to be called.
It wasn’t until I spoke with my support coordinator that I learned I had other options. That conversation changed everything. I discovered I could seek to live independently, with support in place to help me manage everyday life.
Learning to Live Again
From that moment on, all I wanted was to live as independently as possible.
Slowly, the group home became the place where I began to rebuild. Step by step, I learned how to live as a full-time wheelchair user. I relearned essential life skills, self-care, mobility, and navigating the world in my chair.
But something was missing.
My kids. My friends. My life in New Zealand.
The Call That Changed Everything
One day, sitting at my desk in my room at the group home, I watched the New Zealand Prime Minister announce the reopening of the borders under strict COVID rules.
Within minutes, I was on the phone to Air New Zealand.
The Trans-Tasman bubble opened on 19 April, and on 23 April 2021, I booked my first flight home to Auckland.
Planning Every Detail
My family homes weren’t wheelchair accessible, so I booked a hotel. I hired a shower commode. I arranged for my ex-wife to visit daily to help me with tasks I couldn’t yet manage on my own.
I coordinated every detail because I knew how important this trip was, not just physically, but for my head, my heart, and my healing.
Flying With Friends in the Industry
Before the accident, I worked for Qantas. After leaving Australia, I lived in Auckland and worked for Air New Zealand as an Aircraft Engineer. I still have many friends in the aviation industry.
One of them, now an In-Flight Service Manager (a Purser in my day), checked to see if she’d be on my flight. Sadly, she wasn’t rostered on, but her encouragement meant the world to me.
Alone at the Airport
The airport was about 45 minutes away. A support worker from the group home drove me there and assisted me through check-in. Then, I was on my own.
Flying again felt surreal. I had been through so much, physically, mentally, and emotionally, but I needed to fly to see my kids.
I’d spent decades flying all over the world, yet this flight felt like the most courageous of them all.
Was I Ready? Not Really.
Was I ready? No.
Was I fully prepared? Not really.
But I went anyway.
And it was incredible.
Even though the flight only lasted a couple of hours, it opened up something deep inside me, a sense of freedom, possibility, and hope. I had flown as a wheelchair user, and I had done it solo.
That flight was a turning point.
A Turning Point
It was a powerful step forward in reclaiming who I was and shaping who I am today. For the first time since my injury, I felt like my world had opened up again.
Hope was no longer theoretical. It was real.
If I Can Do It, So Can You
Now, I want to help others feel that same sense of possibility.
If you’re newly injured or adjusting to life in a wheelchair, I want you to know this:
Travel doesn’t have to stop after a spinal cord injury. It just changes shape, and sometimes that change makes the journey even more meaningful.
If I can do it, nervous, unsure, and unprepared, I am 100% confident that you can too.
That first flight may feel terrifying. Almost unimaginable. But the reality is this: it is doable.
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