She Survived a One-in-20-Million Accident

What would your life look like if you had brushed your teeth for just ten seconds longer? In January 2020, 27-year-old paramedic Emma Mickle made a last-minute decision to join her friends on a hike through New Zealand. On the final day, just ten kilometres from the finish, Emma sat down to remove her wet-weather gear. At that exact moment, a three-metre tree branch fell from approximately 20 metres above and landed directly on her. In this remarkably honest episode of ListenABLE, Emma speaks about learning to live with incomplete paraplegia, chronic nerve pain, impaired bowel and bladder function, invisible disability and the loss of her career as an operational paramedic. Emma’s story is about terrible luck, extraordinary recovery and what she describes as “forced resilience”. Emma discusses: The split-second accident that changed her life Waiting three hours for a helicopter rescue Being diagnosed with incomplete paraplegia Her partner proposing in intensive care The moment she discovered she could no longer stand Bowel and bladder function after a spinal cord injury Living with daily chronic nerve pain Completing an Ironman after leaving hospital Losing her career as an operational paramedic Finding freedom and relief through cycling Living with an invisible disability Why strangers react differently when shaking her hand The reality of hiding pain from loved ones How disability changed her perception of safety and risk Her ambition to compete at the LA 2028 Paralympic Games 00:00 A one-in-20-million accident 01:27 The New Zealand hiking trip 03:12 Emma’s spinal cord and nerve injuries 04:39 Being told to prepare for life in a wheelchair 05:42 A hospital proposal Emma cannot remember 08:16 Feeling both incredibly unlucky and incredibly lucky 09:22 Why Emma cannot remember the accident 10:44 How her friends kept her alive 14:06 Arriving at spinal rehabilitation 15:13 The moment Emma discovered she could not stand 17:22 Would Emma undo the accident? 18:33 Bowel, bladder and chronic pain 21:20 Recovery as a professional athlete 22:09 Completing an Ironman after her injury 24:17 Why cycling makes Emma feel normal 25:42 Road racing and time trials 26:11 The dream of LA 2028 26:46 Losing her career as a paramedic 29:45 Living with an invisible disability 31:47 How to handle an unexpected handshake 33:11 The reality of “forced resilience” 34:27 How the accident changed Emma’s perspective 35:19 Living with daily pain 36:35 The Bowl of Uncomfortable 38:24 Vulnerability and a changed perception of risk 40:49 The perfect handshake Emma Mickle, Emma Mickle cyclist, Australian para-cyclist, para-cycling Australia, spinal cord injury recovery, incomplete paraplegia, incomplete spinal cord injury, brachial plexus injury, chronic nerve pain, invisible disability, disability awareness, adaptive sport, rehabilitation through sport, Ironman after spinal cord injury, Australian Paralympic cycling, LA 2028 Paralympics, disability podcast Australia, ListenABLE podcast, Dylan Alcott, Angus O’Loughlin. This episode includes discussions of traumatic injury, spinal cord injury, bowel and bladder function, chronic pain, sexual health and personal safety. #ListenABLE #EmmaMickle #ParaCycling #SpinalCordInjury #InvisibleDisability #AdaptiveSport #Paralympics #LA2028 #DisabilityPodcast #ChronicPain