A former triathlete, Alexa Leary nearly died after a catastrophic bike accident in 2021 that left her unconscious in the ICU, with doctors telling her parents to prepare to say goodbye.
Fast forward to Tuesday in Brisbane, and Leary could be seen racing in the Australian swimming trials where she booked her ticket to the 2024 Paris Paralympics, to fulfill a lifelong dream.
“She wasn’t meant to live, let alone walk or talk, ” Leary’s mother, Belinda told Channel 9, as she choked back tears in the stands after her daughter’s race.
“We got a different daughter back. I love her personality. She’s funny, she’s crazy, but most importantly she’s fulfilling her dreams and what she wanted to do prior … She always wanted to go to the Olympics. That was her thing, always.”
The 22-year-old swimmer from the Gold Coast won the 50m freestyle race and met the qualifying time for the Paralympic Games in the S9 classification. And while the selection committee still gets to decide who makes the team at the end of the week, Leary’s “miracle” swim doesn’t hurt her chances in any way.
“I’m so proud of myself, I’ll really tell you that. I’m so proud of myself,” Leary said, exuding positive energy in her post-race interview.
“I got a traumatic brain injury, right? But in the back bit of your brain is music in it like and hyperness of music. I went so far with music out of the hospital. I got a pair of DJ decks and I made the best songs off my DJ decks. Not gonna lie, everyone wants me to make a SoundCloud. I think I will! Yeah, I love music. I don’t stop moving, I just love a dance.”
The accident
During a cycling training session for triathlons in 2021, Leary was riding at 70/km/h when her front wheel clipped the bike ahead. She went hurling over the handlebars, and her father, who was riding not far behind, arrived at the scene to see his daughter unresponsive.
Leary had suffered traumatic brain injuries, broken her ribs, skull scapula and leg as well as punctured her lung.
She was flown to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, where doctors doubted whether she would survive. She spend six months in hospital and part of her skull had to be removed as part of a lifesaving surgery.
Nevertheless, Leary somehow pulled through and now lives with permanent brain damage and weakness down the right side of her body.
“They’re [my parents] are the reason I’m here,” Leary told reporters in her post-race interview on Tuesday.
“They never left my side– that six months in that hospital, never left me — like literally, stop working, stop doing everything and sat by my side non-stop all the way.”
Leary’s father, Russ, also choked back tears to say: “It’s unbelievable. To think that we had six months in hospital, never meant to walk or talk again, and she’s off to the Paralympics.”
“You’re a bloody legend,” he added of Leary.