Next time you’re moaning about something trivial, consider the case of this extraordinary man who’s overcome shocking odds, write Joyce Wrinch-Schulz
Justin Clarke has every reason to feel proud. Last month he swam in the Midmar Mile. He completed the distance and received a medal for this achievement.
But his was no ordinary achievement, however, because he’s paralysed from the waist down and was the only paraplegic in this category to complete the distance.
It’s barely 13 months since Justin’s life was devastated by a freak ski-ing accident. In January last year, he and his wife Susan and some friends and family were enjoying the last day of their holiday in Saalbach, Austria. Susan was in the chairlift and happened to looked down just as Justin prepared for his last run. She watched in horror as her husband, in trying to avoid a ski boarder, hit and ice ramp and did a double somersault before crashing to the ground. Fortunately the ski instructor who was also a doctor was at the scene and immediately Justin was airlifted by helicopter to the trauma centre in Salzburg.
But the prognosis was grim. Every one of Justin’s ribs was broken. So was his sternum. Both lungs were punctured. He had multiple spinal fractures and a hairline skull fracture l. His ski helmet was smashed to bits but without it he wouldn’t have survived. It was touch and go. He spent 10 hours in theatre and underwent a second operation the next day. On top of it Justin contracted double pneumonia.
Coma
For four weeks he lay in a coma in intensive care while his wife, family and friends prayed for his survival.
At last he rallied sufficiently to be airlifted home. But what a journey! First he had to have a tracheotomy in case he choked on the way. Then it was an ambulance to Salzburg Airport and a medical check and an emergency flight to Frankfurt. More medical examinations before he was loaded on to the flight to Johannesburg, strapped on to a board atop six the passenger seats. His wife and two German doctors accompanied him. But they’d brought the wrong suction machine for his tracheotomy and while the men slept Sue had a nightmare journey as her husband choked and battled to breathe.
“What a relief it was to eventually reached Johannesburg,” she said. “Everyone was so compassionate and wonderful!”
But for Justin the nightmare journey wasn’t over. Into an ambulance again from Oliver Tambo across Johannesburg to Lanseria Airport for the trip by air ambulance home to Durban. Then his blood pressure plummeted and he had to be given emergency treatment on the tarmac before being lifted into yet another ambulance to Entabeni Hospital. Now 24 hours later and utterly exhausted, he was told there was no bed for him.
For several weeks he was in the neurological ward before being accommodated in the rehabilitation centre where from 6am until late at night he underwent a rigorous training programme. No longer could he run and cycle in marathons. Nor could he water-ski, para-sail or paddle down rivers. Instead, he had to learn to strengthen his shoulders and arms and accept being permanently paralysed from the waist down.
Yet Justin determined to get his life back. From hospital, he arranged to have his car adapted so he could drive it. He had a company to run and refused to give in! He and Sue had a ramp built so he could get from his car in his wheelchair to the house, and their bathroom was altered.
Within weeks of being home Justin had enrolled at the wheelchair–friendly Virgin Active gym at Gateway where a motorised ramp helps paraplegic s into the water. With the help of a floater, his paralysed legs were lifted and soon he was swimming 20 lengths. Then 30, and before long Justin was regularly swimming 80 lengths twice weekly. He’s even had a swim in the sea – with the help of some good friends!
And barely five months after his accident, Justin drove to the Cavern in the Drakensberg and back. He acquired a motorised standing wheelchair to help the circulation in his legs and a hand bicycle.
He’s made several trips on his own to Jo’burg and was recently invited to a leadership conference to met Richard Branson and motivational author Malcolm Gladwell. He was inspired, too, by several meetings with Ari Seirlis, chairman of the Quadriplegics’’ Association of South Africa.
Next month Justin flies to Cape Town to deliver two 45 minute talks on the latest developments in internet property selling.
Always seeking new challenges, he joined up with other members of his company, Private Properties, to swim the Midmar Mile. And in November he’s flying to the US to compete in the 42-mile New York marathon.
How does he do it?
“Probably because of the example set by my father (the late Dr Fred Clarke MEC), who actually was a cripple throughout my life but who lived life to the full. None of us thought of him as handicapped. He was larger than life. . . so I can’t give in!”
NOTE:
Justin Clarke’s father was Dr Fred Clarke MEC who had a leg amputated at 23 after complications from a World War 2 injury. However he lived life to the full. He became a pharmacist and then a doctor with a thriving practice in Durban North. He was active in politics and was on scores of committees. Unfortunately he met a tragic end. His stump gave him constant pain and he went into a coma after an accidental pain-killing epidural overdose. He died four years later aged 67.