It’s been a long road back for Brett Stevenson, who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident last year.
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But when he flew over the Bourke hills yesterday and landed in Dubbo, the familiar sounds and sights made it feel like he’d never left.
The former Geurie businessman has finally made his way home after a gruelling 18-month recovery period in Sydney.
Mr Stevenson finally returned to Dubbo to deliver a seminar for his grain marketing agency and to give back to the clients who had visited him in hospital and through his six-month stint in rehabilitation.
“It was my family and my clients who really brought me back, not just physically but emotionally too,” he told the Daily Liberal yesterday.
Mr Stevenson broke his neck and partially severed his spinal cord at Avoca beach in Sydney last year when he dived into a submerged rock.
He was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he spent five weeks in the spinal unit. He then spent six months in the Moorang Spinal Unit in Ryde.
The local businessman was in a ward with 16 people, four of whom were coincidentally from Dubbo.
“Unlike some of the others, I was lucky to have an ‘incomplete’ break, which means my spinal cord is still in my spine, but the bones got munched,” he said.
Though he’s still a bit shaky, Mr Stevenson proudly announced he can now walk with the assistance of crutches.
When asked what got him through those blue days, the 50-year-old simply said “optimism and support”.
“I concentrate on the process, not on the end result,” he said.
“And I’m here in Dubbo today to thank the people who supported me when I was lying in that hospital bed.” Mr Stevenson said now that he’s back on the seminar circuit with his Market Check business, he won’t let his injury slow him down.
“The accident wouldn’t have stopped me from coming back to Dubbo, but it’s delayed my trip,” he said.
“I definitely feel like I’ve made it home now though.” Mr Stevenson said after his talk, he was looking forward to catching up with his parents and his brother, who still live nearby.