In July 2021, doctors delivered news to Russ and Belinda Leary that no parent ever wants to hear.
The couple were told it was time to say goodbye to their daughter Alexa, as she lay in a Brisbane hospital bed.
It was decided emergency surgery was the last resort to try and save the young triathlete’s life.
Earlier that day, Alexa had fallen off her bike during a training ride. Speeding along at approximately 70 kilometres per hour, Alexa’s front wheel clipped the bike ahead. She landed on her head.
Doctors needed to remove part of Alexa’s skull. If they didn’t, death was certain.
“Sorry, I’ve been crying for 20 months,” Russ tells the Herald and The Age, as tears roll down his cheeks. “It just doesn’t go away.”
But these are happy tears on the pool deck at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre at the Australian Swimming Championships.
This is the story of a proud father and family watching something they thought unimaginable.
On Wednesday evening, with friends and family cheering in the stands, Alexa Leary qualified for her first Australian para-swimming team.
Having defied death, Leary’s tale is one of tenacity and courage. Lucky to be alive, but living with permanent brain damage, Leary will represent Australia later this year at the World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester.
“You’ve done something great Lex,” Leary said to herself, slumped in a chair, moments after winning her 100m freestyle final. “You pushed through and you made it.
“Everyone said goodbye to me. They all thought I was going to pass away. That’s why they call me a miracle. They said I would never walk again and I would never talk again. I have a traumatic brain injury. Life’s really hard because I damaged all my feelings. It was a really hard time.
“Triathlon was my everything. I have ADHD, so I always liked to do three sports. I was in a big accident. I don’t remember it.”
Russ recalls that horrible Saturday morning bike ride just outside Noosa.
Alexa, a promising triathlete who won a silver medal at the 2019 junior world titles, was out on a training ride.
“I was riding behind the main group. I rode into it and thought, f—, don’t tell me it’s my daughter. It was,” Russ says.
Alexa was unconscious. Blood was everywhere. Her ribs, skull and scapula were broken. She had a punctured lung and a shattered leg. At first, Russ didn’t recognise his daughter.
She was airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the family was told to expect the worst.
“It wasn’t a good Saturday. I was planning to go for a beer and a bet,” Russ says. “I said to Belinda, ‘our life has just changed forever’.”
Russ believes there are three reasons why Alexa is still alive. With time not on Alexa’s side, a local had the presence of mind to yell at a cyclist to ride up the hill to get phone reception and call Triple-0.
The paramedic assigned to the job knew exactly where the crash occurred and the third stroke of good luck was a doctor who by chance was on the scene moved Alexa into a position on the side of the road where she could breathe.
That night, neurosurgeon Dr Norman Ma performed life-saving surgery.
“She didn’t breathe for two weeks on her own,” Russ says. “On the first night, her scalp had to come off. Second night, she had a major blood clot. We had to make the decision of whether to give her medication for the blot clot. That could have ruined the brain and killed her. It was a toss of a coin. The next day she had a fever. It went on.
“There were eight times in intensive care where we had to say bye to her.”
The operation saved her life, but it was just the start of a long recovery process. However, one quality Alexa had on her side was her indomitable spirit.
After a long and arduous rehabilitation, she wasn’t going to be stopped. Russ says Alexa is a “six out of 10” on the road to full recovery.
“I spent two months learning how to walk, talk, brush my teeth and wash my hair,” Alexa says. “When I was in ICU, apparently I said I want to go to the Paralympics.
“I just wanted to swim. I’m a pusher. I want to go, go, go. I told Dad every day I wanted to swim. I was classified as S9 (swimmers who have weakness, limb loss or movement difficulties in one arm or leg).
“It’s so amazing. It makes me so happy given what I’ve been through over the last year and a half.”
Alexa wore rugby league headgear in hospital as her brain recovered. Now she’ll be wearing a gold swimming cap, representing her country.
After a social media campaign called ‘Moved For Lex’, which encouraged other Australians to get moving, Alexa’s comeback has gained more traction than anyone could have anticipated.
Other swimmers find her vivacious personality infectious as she mingled with them on pool deck before Thursday’s announcement.
Russ just shakes his head and smiles.
“What a journey,” he says, as the tears return. “You live for six months in a hospital never knowing if she’s going to walk or talk and now she makes the Australian team? We just never gave up.
“She’s tenacious. She has that animal in her. It’s been f—ing tough and a long journey. For our family, this is a whole new journey that starts now. We needed it.”
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