Unbroken Spirit: Zac Watson's Journey of Courage and Resilience

Zac Watson (S&A 2016), is a passionate sports enthusiast whose journey took an unforeseen and challenging direction on April 21 2023. While training for the prestigious Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs, NT, Zac's life changed. A serious motorbike accident left him severely injured, requiring an airlift by the Royal Flying Doctors to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for urgent treatment.

Facing the news that he was now paralysed from the chest down; Zac knew he had a hard road ahead. It is said that what defines a person is not the challenges they encounter, but how they respond to them. Despite his accident, Zac's spirit remains strong, and he has displayed amazing resilience and courage through his rehab and recovery.

Mark Colsey (W&A 1973), a S&A mentor when Zac was in S&A, has been visiting Zac regularly since the accident. We asked Mark to interview Zac to share his account of recovery, resilience and courage with our SPOC Community.

Thank you Zac for agreeing to do this interview for the St Peter’s College Old Collegians. You are an exceptional young man with a remarkable story of dealing with significant adversity.

While you were at school, you had a very active life in sport and other activities. What activities or adventures have you participated in since school?

When I first left school I kept playing footy, I played a bit of SANFL. Then with work, I sort of stepped away from footy and got into some individual stuff where it was more of me, so I got back into motor bike racing, motor cross to start off with, and also dinghy boat racing. Then I went from the motor cross track to up in the desert, and the Finke Desert race. They’re sort of the main activities or hobbies that I did after I left school.

What attracted you to off road motor cycling racing, and in particular, the Finke Desert Race?

I grew up on a bike, so before coming to St Peter’s College, I raced motor cross growing up as a kid. Then obviously footy and cricket took over, so once I got out of school and wasn’t playing footy, I got back into it. Then a couple of mates were going to go up to race in the Finke, and I said alright, if you are going to do it, I will do it. It sort of eventuated from there.

You were always up for a challenge I think Zac!

Yeah, that would be right.

When you had your accident on 21 April while training for the race, did you know how serious your accident was and what was your mindset at that time?

Yeah, I sort of knew straight away because I was still conscious when I had my accident. I knew the moment I went to get up and touch my legs that I was paralysed unfortunately. So, it gave me that 20 minutes to half an hour that I was laying there, waiting to be found, sort of gave me the chance to accept what had happened in a way. Then, obviously I went through the motions of going from there to the hospital, to the surgery, to everything. When I woke up from surgery, it just was sort of, sucks, but you know, there was not much I could do, life goes on.   

Previously you had told me that when you were lying on the road Zac, you had a range of emotions, but eventually you resolved that you just had to get through this, even while lying on the track.

Yeah, I guess, I was pretty distraught when I first realised. I then went into, well I was scared to be honest. It kind of got to that point where the pain was just too much and, I just crossed my arms and said oh, well, this could be my time. But just after thinking this about my situation, I was found. Yes, the biggest emotion was probably the scared part, more than anything else.

There is a saying, ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’. Your attitude towards your injury and recovery since the accident has been incredibly positive. To me, you are a very resilient young man. Can you share what inspires you to keep going?

It’s sort of, I looked at the situation that it’s not, well, all that good but there were some positives. Originally, I looked at the situation and, like it is not all that bad, my head, my heart are still the same, my arms still work, like, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay. Yeah, I sort of just, put my head down to give myself the best opportunity to make it work how it is, because unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice. I put myself in that possible situation and unfortunately, the worst has happened. I have to, well, take it on the chin and, just move forward as much as I could, which was easy in the early days to be honest. But you know, once I got towards the end of the rehab, then it was, yeah, it was tough. It’s still the matter of look, there is so much more to life, there are people worse off, it’s like, I am OK type of thing.   

Image: Zac Watson (S&A 2016) with Wyatt Sanders (S&A 2016) at the Boarders' Reunion on Friday 4 August 2023.

There have been some really tough periods during your rehabilitation that have tested you, yet your courage and determination to persist has prevailed. How did you manage to overcome these challenges?"

I had some amazing help. My partner, her support was second to none, like she was there every night, brought food, if I needed her to be there in the morning, she was there. She was a huge part of that rehab, and still is. I built some really good relationships with a couple of individuals in rehab around me, that really helped me to get through. Like, when I did have the hiccoughs, and the problems, they were there and rallied around me. One was my physio, another was my exercise physiologist and there were several nurses that I could rely on and were second to none. When I was flat, no matter where I looked when I was in rehab, you know, I knew I had someone that I could talk to. Being in rehab for three months meant they knew me pretty well, so they knew when I had a bad day or when I wasn’t great in the morning, or when I was flat at night time. You know, they could read me in a way and wanted the best for me, so they were a huge help in getting me through.      

Apart from your partner and the medical staff, have there been some key people, family, friends and individuals who have experienced similar injuries, supporting you during your recovery? How influential have they been?

Outside of my partner, who has been the number one, my mates have really stepped up. I knew they were mates, but not to that extent. They visited every couple of days, or would ring me every day. My family were there for me, especially in the early days, even though they had their own other additional issues to deal with. That faded a little bit during my rehab but that was okay, because I was going okay. I took a lot out of having my mates there, at times more than my family in a way, because I did not want to bring my family down when I was down. The overall support has been great, from the community, the motor cross community, from people in my home town of Mt Gambier, the people I know and work with in Adelaide, and even from St Peters College. I have had so many people I knew from those school days reach out.   

Is there any specific advice from any of these people that you have worked with that you have found particularly helpful?

I was really different in a way to most spinal patients that go through the Repat. Like, it usually takes people a long time to accept their situation, whereas I went into rehab already being able to do stuff that I probably should not have been able to. So, the people I worked with, we sort of challenged each other. Like, I would say okay, I have done this exercise or task, what is next? And they would say, okay he is raring to go again, lets push on to the next activity. Working like this with them was challenging both ‘sides’ to do more, so this was good and kept me motivated.

Your love for sports and challenging activities is evident. Despite your injury, I doubt that your passion for these activities will diminish. What are you looking forward to doing in this area?

Obviously this has been on my mind from the moment I woke up from surgery, realising that what I used to do had gone, especially my work, which was probably the big one for me. I think I will stick with motor sport. I will look at getting into go-cart racing, probably mountain bike riding with my mates, with an adapted mountain bike because I really enjoy that. I also want to travel, so I have a new ute on its way that will be modified so I can still do my camping and four wheel drive off road touring.  

You are just amazing Zac. You mentioned work in your previous response. Career wise, what are your plans in this area?

I am a tradesman working in the mining industry for our family business. I am very lucky that I am in this position, but I am going now from working on site to looking at a computer screen for my work, which is probably the hardest pill to swallow to be honest. Like I am 24, and this is not where I wanted to be now. But, as much as it was going to be my future, I have just brought the inevitable transition to a management role forward. That hurt the most, and now I am in planning and management, planning shut downs, employment etc, and doing it from my computer.   

You and your family are organising several activities to help raise funds to support your rehabilitation. One is a Kasey Chambers concert in Mt Gambier and another is your GoFundMe page. In what ways will the success of these activities assist you with your rehabilitation?

Unfortunately, the nature of my accident did not qualify me for any insurance cover, which is just a grey area for what we were doing. We didn’t want to raise money, we don’t like the idea of ‘taking’ money from people. We normally support fundraising activities for other people or communities, but a lot of people rallied around and my partner also drilled in to me that I have done a lot for other people, but now it is my turn to accept the help. When you need it, people are reaching out, they want to know how they can help. Where the funds will go, well, will give me an opportunity to pay for some medical expenses, modifications to my house, car. Money raised will go towards modifying, to make it wheelchair friendly and adaptive. I don’t get covered for treatments and rehab with physios or gym work or anything like that. Yeah, so we just take it as it comes and any support will be huge. Like the moral support has been amazing just to keep me going, regardless of the financial situation.     

Anything else you would like to say Zac?

Just appreciate the opportunity to be able to be in the Old Scholar’s magazine and I really appreciate everyone’s help.

Thank you for your time Zac. You are a most courageous and inspiring young man, and I wish you the best with your recovery.

If you'd like to support Zac on his journey of recovery, you can find his GoFundMe page here.