Ace Lee Hamann, 27, from Sydney, was out with friends in Surry Hills in Sydney one night in April last year when he climbed a tree, fell from about 20 feet and fractured his neck, knee and foot.
“I fractured my C1, the top vertebrae. When I was in the hospital, the doctors told me I was very lucky to fall straight on my head. If I fell a millimetre to the left or to the right, I could have been paralysed or dead,” Ace said.
Fifteen months later Ace has almost fully recovered but he says the experience was a huge eye-opener into spinal cord injuries and how they can change people’s lives.
“I felt like I got off pretty lightly and I’m able to walk again while there are a lot of people who are in much worse situations. So I just wanted to give back a bit; I wanted to help out others as much as I could”.
During his recovery, Ace planned an ‘Ace-a-thon’ which was a challenge he set himself consisting of a 30km bike ride to Garie Beach on the south coast, followed by a 16km stand-up paddleboard to Bundeena and then a 3km swim back into South Cronulla.
“This took place in February 2019 and I was accompanied by my brother Westly and it was a great success,” said Ace.
“Months later I decided to do this challenge again to try to raise some money. Again Westly joined me and we managed to raise almost $3,000 and on August 24 we successfully completed it again — despite the freezing cold winds and water.
“We did an extra 100 metres per each $100 raised”.
People that donated to Ace’s GoFundMe campaign were mostly friends, clients, colleagues, who found out about it through Facebook, Instagram, email or word of mouth.
The fundraiser, which is still live on GoFundMe, has raised almost $3000, which Ace donated entirely to SpinalCure Australia.
Thank you so much, Ace and all the best with your recovery!!
We need your help. SpinalCure Australia relies on donations and fundraisers like this to continue to fund life-changing medical research towards a cure for spinal cord injury. Have you been thinking about helping out?
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