Beau Vernon remembers being told by nurses as he recovered from a broken neck that he would never be able to get dressed without assistance.
Which to a self-proclaimed “stubborn bloke” was a bit like waving a red rag to a bull.
“For someone with my level of injury, they told me nobody had ever done that before,” said the 35-year-old, who will make his Paralympics debut as part of Australia’s wheelchair rugby team on Thursday.
“I worked hard for eight months in the rehab centre and that (challenge) made me even more determined to achieve it.
“It took me four hours that first morning to get my socks, shoes and pants on but I timed myself every single day to see little improvements.”
Vernon sustained the injury during a local Aussie rules match at the age of 23.
The father-of-three has no movement from the chest down and has limited movements in his arms.
Once a promising midfielder who called the likes of Scott Pendlebury and Dale Thomas teammates, Vernon put on a tough front.
But on the inside he struggled to the adjust to the reality that his life was now “a lot f***ing harder”.
“There were times when I’d go to sleep and I’d just sit there in my bed bawling my eyes out,” Vernon told AAP.
“When I’d go out on the weekends with my mates and I’d drink more, the reality is that I was probably having a couple too many drinks to escape my situation.”
Vernon was the youngest member of Gippsland Power's 2005 TAC Cup premiership side, which featured Pendlebury, Thomas and Xavier Ellis, while he also had a stint in the VFL with Casey.
He needed a purpose after the life-changing injury and found it in sport.
But prior to emerging as a key player for the Steelers, Vernon went back to his old club Leongatha in Gippsland as a coach.
“In six full seasons across three years at Leongatha and then at Phillip Island where I grew up playing, we made six grand finals and won three premierships,” Vernon said.
“It was a hard decision to step down but I was mentally burnt out because it’s a full-time job on top of your job; building a junior programme, the 60 players on your list, your sponsors… you just want to make it a good experience for everyone involved.”
Vernon had played some wheelchair rugby prior to testing himself in bush footy coaching.
A little over a year ago he returned to playing the sport, forcing his way into a Steelers side that had clinched the 2022 World Championship and finished fourth in Tokyo.
At a pre-Paralympics tournament in Canada earlier this year, Vernon was named the best player in his classification.
Vernon’s lack of upper-body mobility dictates that he is a 0.5 point athlete, meaning his role is focused on defensive work and spoiling the opposition’s attack.
“With the top six or seven teams anyone can beat anyone,” Vernon said.
“We’re going in as No. 1 but that won’t mean anything, once it starts it's all up for grabs.
“We know we need to play well in every single game but I'm confident that if we bring our best rugby that we can we can beat anyone.”
