Alex Eleftheriou says he faced “a long and dark tunnel” following a road accident at age 17 that left him a quadriplegic.
On September 19, 2012, Mr Eleftheriou, was only 1.3 kilometres from home when he decided to use a shortcut – which he “had taken a million times before” – through an abandoned service station.
The Manor Lakes man said one of his last memories before his motorbike and a car collided, was seeing car headlights in the distance, as he pulled back onto the road.
Mr Eleftheriou was rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma for 21 days.
He spent about a year in hospital after “breaking everything” – including vertebrae in his neck and back, both collarbones and shoulder blades, a shoulder, a hip and fingers.
He snapped his right femur and sustained a bruised lung, after his motorcycle handlebar pierced the organ, and underwent a tracheotomy which meant he couldn’t speak when he first came out of the coma.
Now 26, Mr Eleftheriou, said “everything changed” after the accident.
He said when he moved from ICU to a “normal” hospital ward, and his friends were allowed to visit, “that’s when it got real”.
“I went into crazy instantly – I told them to pull the plug lots of times, but there was no plug to pull,” he said.
“The hospital staff would say, ‘There’s no plug to pull, you’re out of ICU’.”
Mr Eleftheriou went from hospital to rehabilitation for about 12 months, where he spent his 18th birthday, and sank into depression.
He said that after a stint in residential care he began using drugs heavily but a “switch flicked” when he turned 19, and he decided he could no longer continue that lifestyle.
Mr Eleftheriou went to back to university and completed a diploma in building and construction.
He also credits his two dogs, whom he takes for six-kilometre walks every day, with helping to boost his happiness.
Mr Eleftheriou said that for a long time, there was “no light at all” in his life.
“Gradually I came out the other side and now it’s bright as daylight,” he said.
He said he was grateful that he was cognitive and able to interact with people.
“The one negative is that it took this (the motorcycle accident) to make me realise how great life is,” he said.
Mr Eleftheriou is deciding what to do with his life and is considering building homes for seniors and people with disabilities, counselling people who have experienced trauma or doing motivational speaking.
He now raises awareness of road safety and road trauma for organisations including TAC, Victoria Police, Road Trauma Support Services Victoria and SPIRE (Spinal Injury Resource & Support Network).
Road Trauma Support Services Victoria offers free information and counselling to anyone impacted by a road collision. Details: 1300 367 797, www.rtssv.org.au.
