By Nicole Williams
AN OIL spill on a wet day changed Antonio Vecchio’s life forever.
Then 19, Antonio was driving to work on a cold and wet morning when he unknowingly stopped his car in some oil at a red light.
“There must have been some oil on the road and I accelerated and lost control of the car,” he said.
“The accident left me with serious injuries, including damage to my spinal cord which resulted in quadriplegia.”
He spent ‘almost all’ of 2005 in hospital.
Antonio is now 26 and being in a wheelchair has not held him back.
“There was a lot of emotional scarring but now life is pretty good,” he said.
“I live a pretty active and normal life with work, sport and travel.”
Living independently in Dandenong, he had his car adapted so he could drive again only six months after leaving rehabilitation, works in retail, and plays wheelchair rugby.
He also speaks at schools for Independence Australia and has also travelled to America, Canada, New Zealand and around Australia.
“I keep a good balance and keep life in perspective.
“I’ve needed to adapt how I live and adapt to the social side of things where people see you differently but there is no point sitting around getting depressed and relying on other people.”
On the eve of Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week, from 6 to 13 November, Antonio said keeping positive was the only way to live.
“If anyone goes through anything like this, they have to try to keep positive,” he said.
“As tough as it is, you’ve got to keep persevering and keep your head up.
“There is nothing that can limit you if you have the right mind set.”
There are 11,000 people currently living with a spinal cord injury in Australia and 79 per cent of all spinal cord injuries are the result of trauma, such as road crashes, water-related incidents and falls.
