INCREDIBLE IAN WALKER DEFIES THE ODDS AGAIN TO LINE UP AT ASB AUCKLAND MARATHON
Ian Walker knows adversity too well, and on November 1st will again show how the human spirit can overcome even the greatest of obstacles when he lines up in the wheelchair division at the ASB Auckland Marathon as he continues his fight back from not one but two life threatening vehicle versus bike accidents.
Walker was well known in football circles as one of New Zealand’s leading referees, taking control of some of the code’s biggest match days. But in 2006 his world was turned upside down when he collided with a truck while out riding, leaving the Christchurch man adjusting to a new life in a wheelchair.
Walker fought back though, his desire to stay active saw him take to wheelchair sport, racing around the world in the New York Marathon (2014 and 2017) and lining up in the inaugural wheelchair race at the 2018 ASB Auckland Marathon, delighting in racing up and over the Harbour Bridge.
Fast forward (literally) to early 2019 and Walker was continuing to make superb progress when unbelievably he was struck again while out training in his racing chair. The crash left Walker fighting for his life, with significant injuries to his head, neck, pelvis, legs and feet.
“One of the paramedics at the accident said that when they put me in the ambulance my chance of survival was around 1%,” said Walker. “I had the attention of three ambulances, eight paramedics and they worked on me for 30 minutes on the road. I am told I nearly died that afternoon, later that night, and nearly died on the Saturday night – I had so many broken ribs I ended up with a chest infection and got pneumonia.”
But those who know Ian Walker know how determined he is to defy the odds and defy them he has.
“It has been a hard slog; I have been back on the bike for a few months now, but I don’t quite have the strength back. The latest accident damaged the spinal cord in my neck which saw me reclassified as a quadriplegic. I still have good function, but I have lost strength in my right arm and fingertips. I can’t feel the end of my fingers, picking up small stuff is difficult, but that is the only thing that has taken a little while to get used to.”
Walker was in ICU for 12 days in an induced coma (famously his first response from that coma was after listening to Jason Pine talk on radio about Walker’s beloved Liverpool football club) where they say you lose 5% of your body strength every day. That impacted on Walker to the extent that he could not lift a 2kg dumb bell when he came out of ICU.
But having already done it once post 2006, the indefatigable Walker knew a little of what he was in for.
“I had an idea of what I had to go through again to get back, my goal has been to get back to at least the physical condition I was in before the second accident. My mantra has been I don’t let what I can’t do stop me doing what I can.”
Walker is not one to dwell on the past or wonder what might have been.
“The first thing you must do in facing down adversity is to accept what happened. You have to be a realist. What I deal with is the now and what I want to do in the future and the only way you can do that is to try. And you have to reward that act of trying, if something doesn’t work, just keep trying.”
Walker has used his own experience and his incredible ability to stay positive to mentor others who might be struggling.
“When I was at the Unit (spinal cord) I was asked to talk to some of the newly injured spinal cord injury patients. A guy came in from Hawke’s Bay who had fallen asleep and crashed his car and broken his neck. He was having trouble coming to terms with what had happened and the changes he was facing.
“I spent a bit of time with him and just said this doesn’t mean your life is over, it just means it has changed and you don’t know what you can do until you try. You must first accept where you are and that right now you cannot walk, but that doesn’t mean giving up hope. If your goal is to walk again one day, and for whatever reason that doesn’t work out, you have a long way to fall.”
Walker himself is inspired by those he talks to and incredibly counts himself lucky when compared to others.
“I met one of the survivors of the Mosque shooting. He suffered some paralysis and while he is now walking with the help of a crutch, he will have ongoing pain. He is an amazing guy and inspires me given what he had been through. He had forgiven the shooter and said look, the Koran says pain is part of your life and we will all go through our own pain and this is my pain.”
Walker is not bullish to the point of carrying on regardless though and appreciates that he is not on this journey on his own.
“I have made some concessions coming back, my partner Louise was away when the second accident happened and had to fly back not knowing if I was going to live or die. I have been through some of the physical side and some of the mental side of things, but she has to go through the emotional side of it which has been hard on her. She was not overly comfortable with me going back out on my bike so I have agreed with her that if I do go out on the open road she drives along behind me in a van with the hazard lights on.”
Walker is a big believer in disabled athletes having access to mainstream events and is thankful the ASB Marathon is moving in that direction.
“Racing in the ASB Auckland Marathon is an opportunity to prove that just because you are disabled or in a wheelchair it doesn’t mean you can’t compete in everyday events. For the IRONMAN people to allow wheelchairs in the ASB Marathon makes it inclusive and proves that it is not just us that believe that disabled lives matter, it is people like them that make the opportunities for us, without them we don’t get the chance to show we matter.
“Whether in a racing wheelchair or hand-cycle, just the ability to get out there and compete is incredible. Coming over that ramp and over the finish line in Victoria Park, the people cheering, it was an amazing experience and one I will never forget.”
Walker acknowledges the many that have enabled him to even contemplate being on the start line at the ASB Auckland Marathon in November.
“There are so many people to thank, without them I wouldn’t be talking about racing again, top of that list is my partner Louise. The team at Invacare have been so supportive, Geoff Purtill and Nick Hayworth have been amazing. Peter Loft and Brendan Loft at Achilles International New Zealand have been hugely supportive. The medical teams along the way, from the crash scene to hospital to the Spinal Unit and throughout my journey. And to Joe Evans and the support of ACC and not least of all the team at IRONMAN events have provided motivation through the likes of the ASB Marathon.”
