Just over 12 months on from a devastating cycling accident that left him a paraplegic, Navy’s Lieutenant Commander Alex Hale is representing Australia in five sports at the Warrior Games in Florida.
That traumatic spinal-cord injury occurred in April 2023 while Lieutenant Commander Hale was out for a quick ride to escape cabin fever with a family struck down with COVID-19.
“I was probably only 2 kilometres up the road and a bloke in a ute fell asleep at the wheel and drifted off and cleaned me up from behind at about 100 kilometres per hour,” the 41-year-old said.
“I think I hit the bull bar and the top of the roof and got thrown off into the vegetation on the side of the road.”
With his Garmin watch soon alerting wife of 12 years, Erin, that he’d been in an accident, she made her way to the location on the South Coast to find emergency services and a helicopter already on site.
With multiple spinal-cord injuries rendering him paralysed from below the chest, as well as collarbone and rib fractures, collapsed lungs and multiple grazes, Lieutenant Commander Hale spent seven days in the ICU, followed by three months in hospital and a further three months in rehab.
In an amazing show of tenacity, about eight months after the accident the father of one submitted his application to the Invictus program, which aims to strengthen the physical and mental wellbeing of current and former ADF members through the power of sport.
“I applied for the Invictus Games because I thought I’d need 12 months to work myself out,” Lieutenant Commander Hale said.
“I went to the interview and they said, ‘would you be right to do the Warrior Games?’ and there was no reason why I couldn’t.
“Nothing’s getting any worse, there’s only improvements from here, so why not?”
The avid cyclist couldn’t stay off the bike for long, looking into adaptive mountain bikes “from day one of waking up”. Taking on the handcycle at the Warrior Games was a natural progression. He is also competing in wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing, archery and precision shooting.
It’s a jaw-dropping recovery journey, which the inspiring Naval officer attributes to his high level of physical fitness before the accident and immense amount of family support after.
Wife Erin, who he describes as his “greatest champion”, managed to move mountains in the immediate period following the accident.
She notified family, friends and the Navy of what had happened, was with him throughout the lengthy hospital stays and supported his recovery while their parents looked after seven-year-old son Max, and friends rallied around.
Showing that depth of support, Lieutenant Commander Hale, who is now based in Lake Macquarie, is accompanied by nine family and friends in Florida during his Warrior Games campaign.
The games are underway until June 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
