Talk 12 May 2022

TALK OF THE TOWN 12 May 2022 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 5
From tragedy
to a triumph
O’Sullivan told he’d be in a wheelchair for life
FAITH QINGA
Amonth-and-a-half after
Brendan O’Sullivan was
told he would never be
able to walk again, he sent his
wheelchair back to the hospital.
O’Sullivan was the guest
speaker at a special general
meeting of the Probus Club of
the Kowie at R72 Saloon on
Tuesday May 9.
He spoke about the moment
that changed his daring life of
adventure forever in his talk
titled ‘Turning a Tragedy into
Tr i u m p h ’.
“I was told I would be in a
wheelchair for life,” O’S u l l iva n
recalled. In November 2020,
O’Sullivan was seriously injured
in a fall.
“I broke my back when I
slipped and fell at home.”
He fell nearly 5m, landing
on his back and shattering two
vertebrae which were surgically
removed and replaced with
titanium plates with four screws
each, and a bone graft from his
pelvis.
After his back bone graft
operation, O’Sullivan was told
he would never be able to walk
again.
“I was told I would be in a
wheelchair for life, but after a
month-and-a-half, I sent it back
to hospital and bought myself a
really good all-terrain walker
frame which forced me to walk
and get back my balance,” he
said.
It was his never-say-die
attitude that got him back onto
his feet.
“I had to find that fight
within myself to get up. Not
having any support to help me
also forced me to do everything
on my own,” he said.
“I gained strength and
started the healing process.
“I fought to find a purpose,
turning the disability into a
c a r e e r,” he said.
O’Sullivan now runs a
NEVER-SAY-DIE: Brendan O’Sullivan shares his story of healing after having broken his back in
2020. He spoke at the Probus Club meeting on Tuesday at the R72 Saloon Picture: FAITH QINGA
massage therapy practice in Port
Alfred where he specialises in
deep tissue, manual lymphatic
drainage massage, advanced
reflexology, accupressure, and
sports massage.
Probus Club president, Cyril
Gebhardt, welcomed members
and visitors in attendance and
opened the meeting with
reading the bylaw 3.1 of the
Probus constitution.
The purpose of the special
AGM was for members to vote
to amend the bylaw for
membership to be open to both
men and women. All members
present, including the proxies,
voted in favour of the
amendment to allow women to
join the club as members.
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