Stories & Achievements: Leah’s Story
Leah’s story: riding high
“Twenty three years ago I had a car crash and died at the scene. I died in the ambulance and died in the hospital. Why the hell I’m alive I don’t know! There is a God, Amen".
Leah’s accident was in 1997 and she was in a coma for seven months. "There is a thing in this life called a coma," she says. After her time in hospital Leah was in a wheelchair and had to learn to walk again. “I prayed three times, morning noon and night and for some reason God answered my prayers and here I am!”
When asked about what the most difficult things she’s had to overcome is, Leah shares about having to learn to read and write again. “My injuries dissolved my reading, darn it, and at that stage I couldn’t talk. I can now. I also went to a physiotheraphy on Darby street and they helped me too.”
“One of my goals is to read and write better. Reading is the main one. ”
“I write in my journal episodes that have happened through the day. Where we had lunch. Things that happened. Don’t tell anyone, but I do write things that are weird and get said in prayers at the dinner table when we pray over our food. And our accomplishments.”
"I do a lot of journalling. If you have something happen in your life and you are determined to remember it then you put it in your journal. And one day somebody will be able to see my life as history. It may mean nothing but it may go into the history books. Heaven knows, don’t you God! I ran out of room in my journal before. I’ve got an alphabet book and I’ve got up to the letter D so far. I started in 1999. Twenty years it’s taken me from A to D."
Leah’s father Robert explains that Leah has two problems with reading: picturing the word and spelling. "Leah can spell all the words but she can’t picture it. For example C-A-T is cat, but when she looks at it the picture doesn’t come as cat. It’s very difficult for her."
Leah has a long history with horses and her family currently have a property with several horses. “Before my accident I was a champion showjumper. That’s when you jump over obstacles and they can range from on the ground to over a metre.” Leah’s father explains that her show jumping horse, Otto was lent to another family after her accident and their son's became champions on that horse. Otto taught them how to show jump. Leah says “Otto was his nickname, I actually called him Imperial Express and he was grey.”
“The horse I’ve got now is Bo, or Bodacious, and I do dressage or hacking on him.” Leah has won a raft of competitions for riding in the Hunter and also Sydney, including RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) NSW State Champion and many show jumping competitions. It amounts to dozens of place ribbons and literally hundreds of medals over the years. “Too many to count” says Leah’s father. Leah’s mother say that “we go to the RDA state championships every year. We go to Sydney Olympic Park every year - over 20 years now!”
“When I'm riding it just feels like you’ve got movement in your legs. But you don’t ever kick a horse. When you get on you have to learn to squeeze if you want to go forward. When you walk your body movement is the same as horseriding. So if it wasn't for me getting horses from the age of 11, who knows where I'd be now".
Leah has been supported by Headstart since 1997. We asked Leah about her support buddies. “They help me with my reading and my exercise. I should be going to a gym but there’s a thing called Covid-19 but you don’t want to hear that rubbish. They take me to swimming, to karate. They take me shopping and get my lunch. We meet other friends, groups, or go to ten pin bowling. "
“In the pool I try to do 50 laps, but I only make it to 49 sometimes and think 'gee I’ve had enough!' I have a noodle that helps me balance, and I walk too. My left arm is paralysed, and if I put the noodle under my arm it helps me walk and I do my activities. Once upon a time I could do a somersault in the water. That’s something to try.”
“My support workers are so special. I couldn’t live without them for the simple fact that they get me from A to B. They get me from home to swimming, bowling, the gym, trampolining, mosaics - that is craft with a pot.”
We asked Leah if she had anything else she wanted to share with our readers, to which she replied:
“Do not buy a horse! Whoah! They are a lot of bloody work. Patience is a virtue and if you uphold that virtue then you can fulfil your dream. Amen!”
