Jayden with President Sharryn and Chairman Rob
 
Inspirational!
     Seldom can one word adequately sum up a presentation by a guest speaker at a Rotary Meeting, but inspirational was the one recurring thought that encapsulated the thoughts of all present as they listened to Jayden Warn (OAM) speak of his life post a car accident that left him a partial quadriplegic.
     A day before his 17th. birthday Jayden was a passenger in a car driven by one of his closest mates, which resulted in him suffering three broken vertebrae in his neck, three broken vertebrae in his spine, various other fractures and serious internal injuries to major organs.
     A local Drouin boy he grew up as pretty much all local teenagers do with a love of all things and ready to have a go at anything, a love of life, being with mates and attending school.
     Jayden has few memories of the accident, no alcohol or drugs were involved and he considers it a pure accident, that even with a seat belt on, saw him thrown from the car which was such a wreck it was surprising that he survived at all. His friend was relatively unhurt physically.
     Jayden was flown by air ambulance to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he underwent more than 9 hours of surgery and then transferred to the Austin where he underwent a further 7 hours of surgery.
     Following his 4 week stay at the Austin he was transferred to Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Hospital in Kew where he stayed for 5 months.
     It was at the rehabilitation that he was introduced to wheel chair rugby it was also here that he was told that he would never stand, let alone walk and that he would be severely inhibited in his movements for the rest of his life.
     In his own words Jayden said he was a stubborn teenager and was not about to be told what he could or couldn’t do, he was the sort of teenager who insisted on doing it his way.
     Consequently he astounded his carers when he stood unaided within a month and began to regain functions not just those they thought he couldn’t do, but more quickly than anyone imagined.
     Jayden acknowledges that if he could go back in time and avoid being in that accident he would do so without hesitation, however he also acknowledges that it was a turning point in his life direction which he could never have imagined, opening doors that he never knew existed and giving him opportunities and thrills that are now a part of his life.
     On leaving hospital he still had significant health concerns, along with his paraplegia, which has left him with almost no sensation down the right side of his body but with good movement, whilst the left side of his body has heightened sensitive but severely restricted mobility.
     Jayden said that wheel chair rugby had some factors that seriously grabbed his attention, a full contact sport, the only full contact wheel chair sport, along with racing around on wheels with the potential for a bit of pain all held strong appeal for him.
      He took up the sport full on, whilst at the same time finishing his Year 11 and Year 12 schooling and gaining his driver’s licence.
     In 2013 he was invited to join the Australian Wheel Chair Rugby Squad, The Steelers, and made his debut in the same year in the IWRF Asia-Oceania Championships in Pretoria South Africa.
      In 2014 he was a member of the Steelers IWRF World Championship victory in Odense, Denmark and this was just the lead up to the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.
     In the gold medal match in Rio they played arch rivals the Americans and it took two periods of overtime before they overcame the Yanks and defeated them by one point to win gold. Jayden was the youngest member of the squad at just 22 years of age.
      Jayden turns 23 next month and leads a full life that would leave most of us behind even though he is confined to a wheel chair for most of his day.
     He travels to Melbourne 3 times a week for rugby training; he regularly speaks to both Secondary and Primary schools about his life and road safety. In the Australia Day Honours he received an OAM and just 4 weeks ago he married Megan, who he describes as his rock, and recently they moved into their new home.
     Jayden then took questions and in his frank no-nonsense style, he invited the audience to ask anything they wanted.
     For the Bulletin two things stood out in answering the questions, firstly he said that he bore no ill feelings to his mate who was driving. In fact he said that whilst he had on going physical injuries that were manageable, his mate still suffered badly psychologically at what happened and Jayden clearly had great empathy for how his mate was feeling and great concern that he should feel this way. An extraordinary trait in one so young, that he holds such empathy for his mate,
     Secondly he was asked what motivated him through his hospitalisation, his rehabilitation and his sporting life. His frank response was stubbornness, great carers, and a large and dedicated support network of family and friends.
     He said that it was no good looking back on things that can’t be changed, perhaps it can be paraphrased by something that a very wise man once told this Bulletin Editor “You can’t change the past you can only influence the future.”
     In thanking Jayden for his presentation Chairman Rob Stewart said what everyone in the room was thinking, Jayden was a young man to be admired, his determination and spirit were
INSPIRATIONAL.
wife of four weeks - Megan - was also our guest      Australian Steelers