GRIT

How a former Olympic-level gymnast chased a Paralympic dream. IT WAS A WEDNESDAY EVENING IN AUGUST 2012. BRANDON BEACK, A GYMNAST FROM CAPE TOWN WHO’D ACHIEVED PROVINCIAL COLOURS FOR EIGHT CONSECUTIVE YEARS AND HAD BEGUN TRAINING AT JUNIOR OLYMPIC LEVEL, WAS PRACTISING A BACKWARD SOMERSAULT DISMOUNT OFF THE PARALLEL BARS AT HIS CLUB. IT WAS A MOVE HE PERFORMED DAILY.

- Lisa Abdellah

THE ONLY THING OUT OF THE ORDINARY, he recalls, was that his mind raced with thoughts of upcoming exams, a Western Province competition he felt he hadn’t adequately prepared for, and the sad passing of his godfather and dog that week.

All it took Beack was a split-second loss of concentration to let go of the bars too early, underrotate and land, head first, on a metre squared area of concrete a fraction beyond the safety mat. The impact compressed his sixth and seventh vertebrae, resulting in quadriplegia.

‘Many people lose consciousness following an impact like that, but I was awake throughout my experience,’ he remembers. ‘As soon as I hit the ground, a shockwave pulsed through my entire body, and then everything went numb. I couldn’t move from my shoulders down, but, in stark contrast, the pain I felt in my arms, shoulders and neck was intense. I was lying in a pool of blood because I’d split my head open.’

As Beack lay in a critical state, surrounded by concerned fellow gymnasts, he realised it was over. He wasn’t going to the Olympics.

Recovery

Once doctors had confirmed his condition stable, they told him he’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and advised him to accept he’d never recover. He spent ten weeks at Vincent Pallotti Rehabilitation Centre to regain enough independence to go home. Then, he was offered one hour of therapy per week, compared with the two to four hours a day of gymnastics training to which he was accustomed.

‘People generally like to be around me because of my optimism, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel low,’ Beack admits. ‘I went from being active [the former Reddam House student was also an accomplished musician and dancer] to relying on someone to bathe, feed, dress me and brush my teeth.