#48 Alexa Leary: Traumatic Brain Injury, Paralympics & #MoveForLex

they had to everyone had to come in cuz they took the tubes out to test if I could breathe but I couldn't so they put all the tues back in and everyone had to sadly come in my whole my whole family had to come and say goodbye to me and then the next day they turned the machine off and I I breathed I went I breathed welcome back to the Keegan and& company podcast for those who are new to the show my name is Keegan hipgrave and guys if you haven't already try to get you to jump over give us a little like And subscribe on whatever platform you listen to this podcast on whether it's Apple YouTube Spotify it's a great way for us to grow the platform grow the podcast and just have some incredible guests like I have on today uh in this episode I'm I'm so excited to jump into this story because it is a truly inspiring story in this episode I'm joined by Alexa Lex how are you I'm good geez I love I love the pink that you brought in today uh of course I'm like literally obsessed with it why is that because I remember when we we first caught up at Blackboard couple months ago now and then again in the pink like what's what is what is it about it um I got like obsessed with it because um yeah I was in a big accident and they like had to shave my whole head and except for like this little bottom bit down here got they left it and I just wanted to have some little bit of hair cuz I didn't have it for like ages and I'm just like all of a sudden every sing cuz I had like uh seven or nine brain operations and they would always dye this end bit pink so I literally would look at it and I just become obsessed with it yeah I was like oh my go pink pink pink so everything has to be pink now and everything well it looks great it looks great I do I do want to dive into the accident I do want to understand what happened um but before we do I kind of want to understand how much you remember of life before the accident so my short-term memory it's not really there so like as um the neuro doctor say so the brain doctors they said like as the the day of the accident so the 17th of July 2021 they said from that day that I don't have memory 3 years prior wow yeah at all and so you don't remember anything of the last three years no I've got some people some friends that I met a year before the accident I don't know who they are I get a bit I look at my phone camera and stuff and I'm like oh is that person but it doesn't form in my head yeah who they are gotcha yeah it's hard but it's okay and so but sport was obviously such a big part of your life beforehand how much do you remember of what you were doing beforehand oh H ADHD I just wanted to do everything basically everything I had to I had to do everything yeah so yeah it was just I was always doing it like every day like what kind of sports were you doing growing up um I was doing triathon I actually did a lot more other things like water polo basketball there was everything I didn't know you did water polo yeah I love that stuffz I water as well like growing up it's so much fun so you're obviously you're obviously a good swimmer growing up yeah yeah yeah did all like the swimming Squad just being being active yeah and but I just wanted to go further because I was like I can swim so good but my parents were cyclist so I was like I want to cycle as well oh and I want to run so it's a triathon I'm in for that that's how it was is so that's what draw you into the triathlon cuz that was that was my probably one of the biggest questions was just like what what attracted you initially to Triathlon oh I just loved it cuz it was like three different sports so it just like took me I was just like I can do three different things like basically those sports but I was just so like onto it like oh my God I just want to do that yeah when you were when you were doing the trence do you remember what kind of goals you had leading up was there like a big event that you wanted to get to or something that you were training for yeah so I obviously wanted to go to the Olympics that was like a big goal of mine I was like yeah like like to yeah i' like to yeah and you can do that in Triathlon yeah really so sick um I I think one of the key parts of this story is the accident um and I I think we should zoom in on that can you recall what happened or describe what other people might have told you about what happened in the accident yeah so my mom and dad like they they've told me because I don't remember the day of the accident the accident happen happening and what happened I've got no idea I can never ever say what happened but I know of it yeah so I do know my little story so what happened so what happened was I was coming I was on a bike and we were out for a bunch ride like a long one a bunch ride is like bunch of people Bunch like all of us there's a bunch and everything and I was doing so well my dad tells me and apparently I got off the bike just beforehand we we we'd stop somewhere we were near um like a little stop you know you stop and have to water and stuff maybe a little coffee about that maybe but apparently I messaged my dad and I told him I made it with the a gray Bunch the first time I made it with the good group and I'd made 80k or something and I was like oh my goodness I had a beanie on and I took my beanie off and put it in my back pocket yeah right so what happened was as we keep going we were going down a big hill and I was going apparently 70 km an hour wow and all of a sudden like a big big hill I clipped the wheel in front of me because I used to suck up on people's Wheels quite badly but I so I've just I've just started cycling and and I talked to a lot of people and they said you've got to stay super close and I was like well what it's a suck up that's what you do I'm like Dad you want to suck up to them so you can stay with the bunch it's like you suck up I obviously did that and I was sucking up way too close and all of a sudden I don't know but I fell and I smacked my head first on the on the ground like the the road first and my helmet flung off and I smacked my left side like very badly yeah and stuff like that but as that happened apparently I was just out of it and everything but the weirdest this is they call it it's like the biggest Miracle of the the accident on the other side of the road on that day there was a doctor riding up the other side of the road and he saw the whole thing happen no way yeah he walks over he apparently he had to put me in a breathing position cuz my lung completely collapsed I wasn't breathing or anything and it was at the back of Pomona so it was like out of sun there was no reception no nothing but luckily again so the doctor apparently puts me in this breathing position and then a car randomly comes down the hill randomly then no cyclist had reception anything gets the some of the in the car drives out 10 km for reception yeah to call the ambulance they called it the ambulance were parked around the corner on that day wow so that's why they say it is an absolute Miracle of yeah cuz otherwise I would have died on the spot basically but I had help instantly is that what the doctor said you didn't have everything I you I would had nothing like there's no exception there was the doctor riding up the bike is a miracle he put me in a breathing position yeah and stuff like that but then after the ambulance picked me up they took me to the sun Chang Coast hospital and that hospital said she's so bad we can't do anything so they actually put me on a helicopter and flew me to Royal brisban hospital but they said I won't make the flight but I did and I LIF it I was like yeah not like I remember but my that's so that's so wild to think about that even doctors were saying beforehand it's like the chances are that you're probably not going to make it it's almost like defying the odds really yes 100% yeah and so what what happens next after you go to Brisbane so after risbon the trials yeah um I've got to make it I've just got to make the par Olympic team that's that's the goal I'm on I'm on the go for it I've got my head straight for it like not going out on the weekends party like no Lex no go to the path no no well look I remember when when we caught up um a little while ago I can see how determined you are about going to the Olympics before we do Fast Track into going onto the Olympics I'd love to talk about the recovery process coming coming out of that how and I don't want to put words in your mouth but I remember when we caught up you said you had to learn everything again MH could you take me through what that process was so getting out of the hospital it was like quite I restarted a whole new life because I never knew who I apparently I was completely different person before the accident really so different what did what did they say about what you were like versus what you are like so because I I really hit my head so badly that I uh I now have like a traumatic brain injury and so my emotions and everything it it's very very high so sad happy angry and I do have a lot of support though hence asking that is I have like support workers and I have um a behavior coach and OT of course cuz I overpack things yeah like uh I take a oh God it's just not imagine imagine your suitcase going over to Paris for the Olympics it's going to be okay not going to lie when I went when I went to the world titles um last year my dad asked swimming Australia if I could have two suitcases no way yes cuz my life taking a lot of things can you um yeah yeah well hey I mean you got to you got to have all the outfits right um going back to the learning what you had to learn what what were the some of the first things that you kind of had to learn could you expl so I couldn't walk and I couldn't talk for like five months so I lived in Royal brison hospital and they they said I never would they said I literally won't never talk or walk again I've proved the world wrong I'm like I've got this really did they did they tell that straight to you or did they tell my mom and dad I was out I was not I wasn't good but they just like literally said like she's not going to live like I've got a big scar on my knee and I had a I had a rock stuck in my hand and they never stitched my knee for 3 weeks because in ICU they didn't do it because they said I'm not going to live she's not going to live and um yeah the brain was quite bad and they were just like they my lung cuz it collapsed so badly I couldn't breathe that they just pulled the pin saying like I don't know it's not she's not going to live it sounds like there was M like multiple injuries it wasn't just your head it was your lung do do you know what or do you can you recall what your injuries were so I apparently um when the accident happened as well I got a lot of blood clots at the back of my neck and they said like they're so bad there's I'm going to die cuz you die easily from blood clots like a lot so the weirdest thing is that which is like another miracle I'm just like wow you're walking Miracle oh my god um they said that um cuz all these blood clots in the back of neck they said they had to put I had to have a tube so my lung I couldn't breathe so I had to have a tube in me and they had to stitch so I've got a scar on the side yeah of me and they had to like try Stitch weirdly Stitch or put a tube into my lung yeah it was different but um yeah they said like all these blood clots so bad and stuff and they did tell Mom and Dad like she's not going to live or anything so um also for two weeks having the the big tube in my mouth they said they had to everyone had to come in cuz they took the tubes out to test if I could breathe but I could couldn't so they put all the tues back in and everyone had to sadly come in and my whole my whole family had to come and say goodbye to me and then the next day they turned the machine off and I I breathed I went I breathed wait so wait wait let's not we can't just move on from that ADHD I feel like that's a huge part of the story like yeah I breathe because but they but they were going to turn the machines off yeah so they did the first like the two weeks in they turned it off but I wouldn't breathe so they were like it's a goodbye everyone's going to come say goodbye to me and then yeah I they turned it off the next day and I breathed and I breathed jeez they can't kill you no I'm not done no I can't kill you Lex do you have you sp sorry sorry oh yeah no sorry um and then yeah the blood clots so when they said they're so bad they said like I'm going to die but then apparently on the day of the accident it was 3 days in I kept having blood clots in the back of my neck it was maybe the fourth day or something and they kept telling Mom and Dad and stuff cuz Mom and Dad were always there and weirdly they disappeared they were like what the doctors thought they're such bad blood clots and they disappeared they just disappeared out of my neck weirdly yeah so what did um what did your parents say have have you spoke to your parents about that moment where they walked in and they was going to say goodbye like how did that how were they feeling about it yeah my mom and dad tell me a lot because um my memory isn't the best but they tell me a lot about it and yeah it's it's sad but like they they love the fact that I fought so hard to live I just I wanted to I was fighting so hard I was like I want to live I've got this I'm going to walk and I'm going to talk yeah so what what I'm really intrigued to know is the process of coming out of the hospital like the recovery process like what was the learning process like was there anything things that stood out to you where you had to learn all over again yes so I had to learn how to like walk and talk again and it was like very hard because it was it was difficult to do that and then I also had to have a lot of help with my emotions and behavior CU I upset a lot in my brain but mainly that so I even have a behavior coach now because I have to learn how to be with with others around others and know their emotions as well and you know I can get sad happy angry and a minute or a second cuz I really upset my brain what kind of stuff do you do with the behavior coach so we just go through like um little situations yeah like if my friend's actually in my room I have all these butterflies at the top and in the middle a person like talking webs and then down the bottom bugs so she asks me a question and she goes your best friend has a a crush a boy used to date let say that she says that I would go to the bug which is a negative and I would go I would go off at her yeah but no I've got to play that and I've got to be a web and be like yeah it's still really upsetting for me like a bug but so great for you as a butterfly and I've got to walk away so I have to learn how to do that so you'll do you'll do all these different situations yeah because I have to learn how to be against people cuz I'm sometimes like when I got out of the hospital and stuff I am just so honest I have so much honesty that if I think someone's wearing not the nicest set of clothes I'll happily go tell them how am I wearing what's the kit like today it's actually not bad not you would tell me straight away anyway bad not yeah that's great and then so like what what other scenarios would you would you play out like a pod like would you play at a podcast like a fake podcast setting or like interviews because I know you've done a lot of interviews like even more recently with um the iconic which look amazing by the way and even like koala like do you play those scenarios yet yeah we do we do a fair bit of it because I have her for like a few hours on a Monday so I have to learn like a lot of things like it's kind of cool to learn about though because it just helps me refresh my brain to know yeah gotta yeah but another thing that I would say is a big goal is the fact that I would love the world uh like a lot of people in this world have more awareness of brain injuries and mental health yeah that's like the biggest thing I look at because no people around me have any awareness I actually weirdly enough to tell you this but yeah I I lost a lot of friends because no one could accept or understand who I am now they couldn't they couldn't be like they just couldn't they just really couldn't so they just went so it was like acceptance and just like awareness of people like this was that was that hard to go through like yeah it was it was really hard like it was really hard and it like just my mom just was like she was just very like it's just not right is like I'm a completely different person than who I used to be yeah so yeah and what what kind of things like you said you want to like raise awareness like and I said you've been you've been so great and being so vocal about um what is it the flex f Lex like you've done you've done a lot of like interviews like is that is that part of the way to raise the awareness do you think yeah because I just think that like a lot of people need to know that like when accidents happen like back accents like mine for an instance it's not just like oh she fell off a bike she's all good she probably has little sore knee she fell off it's all good but it's like you have to go deeper than that to know that it's actually a a lot more than what they're thinking going oh yeah she gets so angry at me I don't know why she gets so angry and then they just kind of they like whatever it's like they don't really want to understand why I'm like that yeah or like stuff like that so it just kind of the awareness of it would be great and I I would love there to be a day for a traumatic brain injury awareness day really I really would I would love that as well cuz there is a brain injury day but that's a different thing so you're born with a brain injury but a traumatic brain injury is something when it's a big accident that happens I would I would 100% get behind that day I don't know I don't know if you know um maybe you do maybe you don't but I got um so I used to play rugby league yeah um and I got medically retired with concussion so braj you see it all the time and especially guys who are a little bit later in life they see more of the side effects a little bit more um but it's it's sad like it's it's it's sad to see people go through it but then I look at someone like you who has like had cuz I think you told me it was one of the most significant brain injuries that they had the doctors had ever seen correct yeah it was like one of the worst traumatic rain injuries and yeah cuz I had my bone taken off and my brain blew so big but they were like they actually had to cut a little bit out because it just it blew and having the surgeries I had nine brain operations and my mom and dad had to sign a 50/50% chance I Will Survive so it was never going to be like I would but I did you did that's what I mean and that's why that's why your story is so inspiring because you know you're at the way extreme end right and it's the it's the whole Spectrum right but you're on the extreme end and I think any of us can go into life after looking what you've done with that positive mentality of being like you know what what I can't walk what's I'm going to walk I'm going to learn to manage my emotions I'm going to learn to play these little scenarios like you've had you are just the epitome of like being all right what's like what's what's really is it really that hard you know what I mean do you think you've always been that positive person yeah I've just like I don't know I just feel like we only have one life you've got to live it to the fullest you just you can't you've just got to keep going you've got to make it the best life ever yeah that's how I see it I'm like you only get one chance I love I love hearing that much well it's so inspiring and then even like you like the learnings even about um like you were telling me about how you got your license again could you tell me that story cuz that was so cool okay so got to the hospital start of 2022 so two years ago and I um my mom and dad said like no Lex you can't drive like cannot like and my brain was really high in emotions everything cuz I just got out of the hospital I very damaged brain I'm sure the doctors said you're probably not supposed to drive they said um never drive again they actually made it quite cool to say no she's never driving again never but because yes my ADHD is really high I'm like I got my brothers one day okay this is I'm good yeah yeah I was just saying to my brothers and I said to them please I kept forcing them every day getting out of the hospital I wanted to drive I made them take me to the AFL grounds and drive around the AFL ground so my brothers took me and let me drive around the AFL grounds I was allowed to that's the only approval I got gotcha so basically Sammy Rod cuz it was a little bit but not completely but I was driving I was having the best time listening to this litty music I was going the best on my life and then the next minute so my Brothers filmed it because they were in the back one of my brothers in the back of the car the other in the front telling me direct to me because I still didn't really know how to drive and so ma Jack showed me the video and he goes do not send this to anyone you're not allowed I was like okay I went and showed dad instantly I was like I want to show Dad so I can get it did your dad get angry at your brothers so angry dad actually this is actually my dad's ADHD too so he did something he shouldn't have done either but he literally so he saw the video I show him the video and then I was at my friend's house and he he drives around there and he goes Lex drive me to swim training he let me drive myself to swim training that day but him in the in the passy then he sent it off to the brain doctors not the videos or anything but he like sent them saying Lex wants to drive yeah so they said oh she's going to have to go on L's so I was on my L's for 2 years you have to do that whole process and you've already done it you got to do it all again yep I was on my L's for two years and then um yeah it was hard it was really hard and then they gave me the approval of H last year halfway through last year or just a little bit in the start they let me because I was doing I was doing good I wasn't bad I was actually not bad I was actually good at it so they actually let me um drive around the go it's only 10 kilm away from where I live and that was it and that was it and not at night that was the only approval I got and then time went on and then I had to do a test uh only the end of last year and I got the approval and I was like end of last year yes got I got it and then they said like for the rest of my life every six months I'll will have to be tested but that's fine because that's the brain damage that's okay I it's fine it's annoying but it's okay that's that would how did you feel when you got the approval or when you passed the test that was that wasy I was so happy I was like oh my goodness it was the best moment ever yeah I just thought it was the best thing ever I could drive myself to SeaWorld I was like was that the first place you went yeah and I go there for 30 bucks with my companion card so I like that's so great but but I imagine that would give you such a sense of like freedom and Independence as well because you like you've been you know through the whole learning process you've been through the whole recovery process it's got to give you a whole bunch of Freedom yeah yeah it was just so happy I like finally have something that I've wanted for like two years getting out of the hospital and another thing I wanted was my hair and it semi is growing back so I'm like oh yes I'd love I'd love to talk about um another thing that I'm sure you're very excited about is goals post uh post the injury the Olympics how how are you feeling about um the upcoming the upcoming events um really excited I think it's going to be really good and of course I want to bring home something special gold that's very got my head driven for it and I'm just like so like determined and about it that I'm like you're going to you're going to do it Lex you've just got to talk you know what you just got to be so much high on yourself and loving yourself so much you got to go you got this you're kind of like like you're manifesting it like even when we caught up you're like yeah like I you're so determined I can I can feel the energy from you like that's just you've got your eyes on the goal and you and you're going to do it I will I will yeah yeah how's um how how's training going how how are you feeling like in the pool it's actually it's good it's hard it's like a lot but like so worth it like it's good and it gives me something like it makes me have a goal because it's a job I find it a job and I'm there all the time and it's like I've got to work so hard for what I want that's how I see it so I am I'm like I've got a big goal in my head and I'm I've got this what are your what are the main events that you're going to be participating in um so the 50 freestyle and the 100 but the 100 is my love the freestyle as well it is my go-to oh yeah it's everything I love I'm like yeah God there you s you go and then I am also doing the two relays so I'll be the freestyler though yeah I'll be the freestyle how does it work with the classification in the real is it um everyone S9 or is it does it can it vary yeah so it has to be a scoring of 32 so someone that's s um three y so it goes all the way to that so I'm S9 and there'll be an S10 and there might be an S8 or an S another S8 but it has to equal 34 or 32 points so just for people who are listening I imagine um S1 is the start and it goes all the way up to S10 I think S3 is a start yeah and then that's for physical that's like physical damage and then S11 to S14 so S11 is sight so like they can't see they're fully blind and S12 is like half blind and then s13 is quarter and um S14 is um what do you call it like autism and things like that yeah so it goes like that have you met any cool people along the way all of them they're you know what I want to say this they are so inspiring it inspires me the fact that they're there and you know when they probably got told they'd never be able to swim look at them go yeah it just proves a point in this world it's like oh they're just going to fight for it when you want it you're going to get it yeah yeah that's so cool and like even like I I've said this before in this podcast it's like it's so inspiring like it honestly is and when you look back is there kind of like a Life Learning or like a um like a learning that you're like you took out of the whole process out of the whole accident the accident yeah is it something that you look back on and think wow like I've actually learned a lot from this yeah I've just think I've come so far and I'm just like I'm a like I don't know I just think I have I've just I've kept going and i' I've just a miracal really but I'm just like really proud of myself for still sticking here and still being here and living any any advice that you could give to Young par Olympians coming up you've just honestly you've got to have a lot of like passion and determination and you've got to just have your mindset on that and I just think that the just just don't give up you're going to believe so hard in yourself and the biggest thing I look at is to love yourself first that is how everything becomes a lot better when you're loving yourself first thanx I've absolutely love love this I've love this conversation so much before before we do wrap things up um is there anything else that you'd like to touch on before we finish things up I don't think so not that I can think of anything hey thank honestly like thank you so much for coming in and just being so open to tell you a story today like I know when we first caught up at Blackboard in Varsity on the I remember thinking I was like this is such an because I remember I remember hearing the story when when it first happened and then to sit down with you and obviously I went back through and I watched all the you know the the news and I looked at all the Articles and and it was such a wild story and then to sit with you and just see how passionate and determined you are to make the Olympics it's it is super impressive and it's super inspiring so um thank you thank you so much for coming on I really do appreciate it thank you thanks [Music]