Gary Allsop broke his neck playing football when he was 28. The accident left him a quadriplegic and eventually cost him his marriage, house, career and, of course, independence.
Now 44, he’s lived life in a wheelchair for 16 years.
But the Blackburn North man has found a way to make his mark in a way he hopes will, one day, see him walk again.
Mr Allsop started his campaign for spinal cord research in 1995, lobbying politicians and government organisations for funding.
In fact, he made up his mind in hospital to make it his life mission.
‘‘From day one, when I was told I wasn’t going to walk again,’’ he said of his determined stance.
‘‘You get a mindset that you’re going to prove them (the doctors) wrong one day.’’
Over 10 years, Mr Allsop, who is now the honorary director of SpinalCure Australia, met with high-powered people from both sides of the politics.
He felt he was making progress lobbying the former Kennett government when the government changed hands in 1999.
‘‘Never one to give up, I thought ‘I will start again’,’’ he said.
His lucky break came when he bumped into the Labor MP for Forest Hill, Kirstie Marshall, at the Whitehorse-Boroondara FM community radio station, where they were both being interviewed.
She suggested he talk to Treasurer and Innovation Minister John Brumby, and arranged a meeting for May 2004.
Then the pair set to work preparing a proposal for the Treasurer to consider. They focused on how much spinal injuries cost the government each year in terms of hospital and personal care, but Mr Allsop also gave the Treasurer insight into life with a spinal injury.
‘‘I gave a nitty-gritty look at what it’s like, the nuts and bolts of how it is from where I sit,’’ Mr Allsop said.
More than a year later, in June this year, the State Government announced its $63 million Victorian neurotrauma initiative.
The five-year plan will result in new spinal injury technology in ambulances, better trauma training for staff and, importantly for Mr Allsop, research and development into spinal restoration.
Ms Marshall said Mr Allsop ‘‘had enormous influence’’ on bringing the new initiative to life. ‘‘He’d been pushing for it for 10 years. He didn’t quit. So many other people would have lost interest but he persevered.’’
Mr Allsop said the day the phone call came to tell him the initiative was going ahead was ‘‘a pivotal moment’’ in his life.
b‘‘To make people in powerful positions change policy and come out with that kind of money. I just put the phone down and cried,’’ he said.
Ms Marshall, a former skiing world champion, said being a part of Mr Allsop’s crusade was inspirational.
‘‘We talk about athletes competing against the odds. That’s just nothing compared to what Gary has done. This is what we should be holding up as a benchmark of what you can be,’’ the MP said.
As for the future, Mr Allsop said he was looking forward to contributing to the development of the neurotrauma initiative. In September he spoke to the committee reviewing the prohibition of human cloning, calling for a loosening of the restrictions on stem cell research.
He is optimistic that a cure can be found and his fight will be worthwhile.
‘‘To me, it would be like being born again if it actually comes about,’’ Mr Allsop said.