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As a young boy, Brent Allford's father, who was a barrister and an alcoholic, robbed a bank and was jailed for 5 years. This had a profound influence on Brent's life. In his mid-teens, he started drinking. However, he had difficulty in differentiating between having a few drinks and having many drinks. He didn't know when to stop and, as a result, he became a binge drinker. Brent’s life changed forever in the early hours of 26th September 2006. Following a 12-hour alcohol fuelled binge he fell head first from the second story of the rear of a Melbourne night club. With 17 broken bones and life threatening head injuries Brent was transported by ambulance to the intensive care unit of the Royal Melbourne Hospital. For the next 7 weeks he lay motionless in a coma as his life hung precariously in the balance. The treating physician informed his parents he may not come out of the coma and they should expect the worst. Their prognosis was that even if he did survive, he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and would require around-the-clock care. After he woke up, Brent refused to accept the doctors predictions and embarked on an epic journey of rebuilding his life. His story is inspirational, his commitment to keep striving for a better quality of life no matter how hard the battle is a lesson to everyone. Brent now lives by himself and attends the local gymnasium every day. He said goodbye to the wheelchair years ago and now has limited use of both his left arm and left leg. He now visits people who have suffered a similar fate as a way of encouraging them not to give up. He has also delivered hundreds of presentations to Year 10, 11 and 12 at schools to ask students to make good choices in their life and not go down the same path as he did. |
