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Sport has not been part of Brett Morris's world since a life-changing accident 26 years ago, when a football tackle left him a quadriplegic at just 21 years of age.
- A football tackle 26 years ago paralysed Brett Morris from the neck down
- He regained movement in his arms, giving him the independence of using a phone and wheelchair
- He completed the 5.7-kilometre Fun Run at the Gold Coast Marathon on Saturday morning.
But now, two decades later, he has completed the 5.7-kilometre Fun Run at the Gold Coast Marathon in a self-propelled push wheelchair — something he once thought impossible.
There were no nerves at the start line for the 47-year-old. Instead, he was determined to finish the race.
And he did so on Saturday morning, in just under an hour, flanked by a group of close friends and colleagues from the Gold Coast Airport.
"That was hard, I'm happy to be done," he said.
"I'm very sore, very tired, but I said I'd do it and I have.
"I like to try different things — I did indoor skydiving about two months ago and broke my thumb but it is nice to know anything is possible."
Just getting to the Fun Run starting line marks an incredible journey for Mr Morris, who half a lifetime ago was a baker in Dalby, playing second-row for the town's representative rugby league side.
"I was tackled around the legs and someone tackled me around the top and they came down on top of my neck," he said.
"I knew I was gone. It felt like I was laying there just in darkness."
He was paralysed from the neck down, with fractures in his C5 and C6 vertebrae and spinal cord bruising.
Mr Morris regards himself as lucky — after about four months his arm movement returned, giving him the independence to use a phone and propel a push wheelchair.
He moved out of the family home at Dalby into housing at Tweed, hired carers and gained a TAFE qualification in travel.
"I applied for a few jobs and got knocked back, I was in a bit of a rut but then there was an ad in the paper for a volunteer job greeting and helping passengers at the Gold Coast Airport," Mr Morris said.
The job was his and he was so impressive in the role that one of the airport's contractors gave him his first paid job since the football incident, looking after workplace health and safety and inducting new employees.
"It's awesome, you see a lot of interesting things in the airport, which makes it a great job," he said.
"I love working here, I wouldn't have it any other way now."
Mr Morris shies away from the suggestion that his story is an inspiring one, pointing to the strength of others who will be competing in this weekend's longer distance events.
He will, however, find it hard to argue with the wall of support he will receive from 30 of his Gold Coast Airport colleagues who will be supporting him in the Fun Run.
"They can give me a push every now and again when I slow down, I might get a big push across the finish line," he said.
Topics: disabilities, health, sports-injuries, marathon, sport, exercise-and-fitness, tweed-heads-2485, nsw, australia, surfers-paradise-4217, qld, bilinga-4225, brisbane-4000, coolangatta-4225, coolangatta-2535
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