Determined to ride his bike again

I’m Mauricio Munoz from Aspendale. I’m the proud father of 3 fantastic kids whom you’ll ever meet (Imogen 21, Lex 18 and Rhen 16), I’ve been married to Michelle for over 20 years. Everything in our lives was going as good as anyone could have wished for; our kids were doing well at school and behaving like responsible young adults. We had finally started renovating our home, life was sweet! However, on a relatively warm evening in July 2013, my whole life was turned upside down in a space of a few seconds.

13 Apr 2016

13 April 2016

I was involved in a horrific accident that has led to countless surgeries, a stint in ICU for 12 days, 15 weeks in the Royal Melbourne Hospital followed by ongoing rehabilitation.

In a careless act, I was struck by a truck at 80km/hr whilst cycling home from work. It was the night before my daughters 19th birthday. At that point the doctors and surgeons braced my family for the worst.

They predicted that my survival rate was minimal. Having shattered my pelvis, severed my renal artery (leading me to be bleeding out rapidly), severed several arteries to my kidney, broken my sternum, 6 ribs, a compound fracture to left ankle, a fractured left lower tibia, a fractured eye socket and broken teeth, they decided an induced coma was the only option.

My gorgeous wife drove daily to Royal Melbourne Hospital to be by my side for 15 weeks. My beautiful daughter attending university, working part time and playing mum to her younger brothers, 13 and 15 years of age at the time.

Despite all this my family stayed strong, we kept each other sane during the ordeal. I was finally sent home at Christmas 2013, however having lost a significant amount of weight my recovery was far from over.

In December 2013, I was transferred to St John of God Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital as an outpatient and introduced to Senior Physiotherapist Brigitte, whom I owe so much to and give much credit for helping me get to where I am today. I’ll never forget the day I met Brigitte. She was just everything I expected from a health professional and more!

Brigitte treated me with humility and as a friend instead of a number. As a true professional, from the get go we discussed the recovery program and set ‘realistic’ goals.

This was to ensure I knew exactly what I needed to focus on and importantly, to ensure I took stock of my progress. This process was extremely valuable to ensure I kept myself in good mental health. Throughout the time I was under her watchful eye, she was constantly assuring me that all the aches and pains would improve over time and I would be able get on with my life – open a new chapter in my life.

The first 12 months of rehabilitation treatment consisted of two sessions a week Hydrotherapy (the warm water was so welcoming to my aching bones and muscles), balancing exercises, walking between the ‘ballerina’ bars, joint movement manipulation, muscle strengthening (upper and lower body), occupational therapy, hip and core strengthening and remedial massage.

As I became stronger and mobile, Brigitte introduced me to Jorgen, another Senior Physiotherapist, to ensure my recovery process stepped up another notch! Jorgen was just awesome; he always had a smile on his face and always on the go! You knew that your heart rate would hit the roof during his sessions.

This was something Brigitte identified early through my recovery due to my sporting background. I needed to feel active; I needed to feel alive and independent again.

The biggest challenge I found through my recovery was that I was impatient and I did not think the rehabilitation process would take so long. Two years on and I’ve been able to reach milestones no one thought was possible. Brigitte, Jorgen and everyone at St John of God Frankston Rehabilitation Hospital were so supportive and their care was second to none.

I’ve have permanent nerve damage to both of my legs from the knees down but I’m fortunate to be alive. I’m walking not like before but none the less, mobile and the fact that I have little to no feeling in my feet and still able to walk is an incredible miracle.

I suffer every day from significant amounts of pain and I still struggle to comprehend how anyone could hit another human being and fail to stop at the scene. However, I’m determined to move on and every time I feel down, I remember Brigitte’s voice in my head asking me, ‘Do you want to get on with life?’ The answer has always been YES!!

In recognition to all the help I’ve received in the past 2 and half years and in desperately trying to reach closure, I’ve decided to embark on a challenge of a life time. I’m back on the bike and training to ride from Melbourne to Adelaide in January 2016 to promote road safety awareness (Amy Gillett Foundation - A Meter Matters campaign) and raise money for Royal Melbourne Hospital without whom I may not be here today.