Train the Brave, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 38Do your best with what you have; it’s enough

I 'll never forget the moment when a visiting Swedish neurosurgeon came to my brother Frank's bedside in the rehabilitation hospital in Doha, Qatar. Twelve days earlier Frank had been out with a few mates riding his motorbike through the sand dunes outside the desert city of Doha. He'd done it many times but on this occasion he had the misfortune of riding up a dune that had a sheer 8-metre drop on the other side … onto an unforgiving bed of rock. At the moment Frank hit that rock, the impact severely injured his spinal cord and he had to be airlifted to the hospital in Doha, where he was being stabilised while awaiting transfer back to Australia.

In the intervening 12 days, amid the fog of painkillers and between the morphine of operations, Frank had held onto hope that the paralysis he had experienced since the moment of impact would be temporary. He'd joked about walking back into that hospital one day to greet the nurses who'd been so kind to him. Cheekily, he promised to take them out dancing. Maybe even for a ride on his beloved Ducati. Frank loved to dance. He loved to ride. He loved all things outdoor.

The doctor, his eyes gentle and voice kind, stood at the foot of Frank's bed asking how he was doing. ‘Not bad, Doc,' replied Frank in his cheerful way, adding, ‘But I'm hoping you'll tell me some news that will make me feel better'. As kindly as he could, the doctor said, ‘Frank I have looked at your scans and I ...