Morné Mulder’s life changed drastically last year when he was involved in a diving accident.
Being a quadriplegic bound to a wheelchair he remembers the incident as if it happened yesterday.
He and a few friends visited a game farm in Polokwane and when he dived into the pool, he hit his head on the bottom of the pool.
He says he remembers very little of the incident except directly after his head hit the bottom.
“I immediately knew something was wrong as I couldn’t feel my legs,” he says.
He remembers trying to call out for help, but even that was difficult.
Two of his friends immediately noticed something was wrong and pulled him out of the pool.
He was taken to a nearby hospital where he heard, after X-rays were taken, that his C6 vertebra was completely crushed.
During an operation in December, the vertebra was replaced with a steel plate and two screws.
Although he is paralysed from his chest down, he is happy that he didn’t suffer any brain damage.
Alica Labuschagne, his girlfriend of the past five years, says the news came as a huge shock to her.
“All I remember is how I tried to get to him as soon as possible,” she says.
He is currently in a rehabilitation centre in Pretoria where the therapists and occupational therapists are teaching him basic skills on how to be independent.
It was there where Alica was taught how to bath and care for him.
Morné is grateful and says she is his personal assistant.
Since he has been admitted to the rehab centre, the therapists have been helping to strengthen his muscles.
Proud of himself, he says he can now lift himself into a car and onto a bed.
Although the doctors described his injury as complete he believes he will walk again.
He explains a complete break also means he has no control on when he needs to go to the toilet at all.
“What is impossible to the doctors, is possible to God,” he says.
Therefore he stays positive and sees the wheelchair as a temporary arrangement, saying it doesn’t matter how long it takes for him to walk again.
Alicia fetches him every weekend to spend time with her, their family and friends.
On Saturday he supported one of his friends, Anton van Deventer who plays rugby for the Springs Rugby Club’s first team.
Anton says he is proud of Morné and every time he sees him he can see the progress.
Morné is grateful for the support he receives from Alica, his family and friends.
