An edited version of the following article appeared in The Ottawa Citizen on Saturday, August 4, 2001

Space problems in Australia

Mike Nemesvary
'Round the World Challenge

Mike Nemesvary, a former champion freestyle skier, is attempting to become the first quadriplegic to drive around the world - a 40,000 kilometer trek to raise funds for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.

Australian Outback

G‘Day from Down Under! I am writing this report from deep in the Australian Outback in our tiny 10' x 14' room at the "Renner Springs Desert Motel".

We made good progress today clocking 845 kilometres in just under 10 hours. There is no speed limit in the Northern Territories, but I managed to keep her under 125 km/hr and avoid unpleasant run-ins with the Australian wildlife - kangaroos, emus, wild horses and such. Typical of this part of "Oz", the road was two lanes, very straight - sometimes as far as the eye can see - with little traffic beyond the odd camper van and four-wheel drive returning home after the two-week winter school holidays.

George, Christine and I have been joined on Leg 3 (Australia) by Philip Richmond, acting as our "Aussie" Field Manager. Phil, a 40-year old from Sydney came highly recommended as a reliable, kind-hearted guy who was also up for an adventure. A typical Aussie, Phil is a surfer, ski instructor and has even had experience teaching people with disabilities to sit-ski in Australia's "Snowy Mountains".

It's great to be back on the road again but while Australia is generally very accessible, we have had some challenges with our recent accommodations. In Exmouth, while waiting for truck repairs, we found the last available unit - it was the start of the school holidays and everywhere was booked solid.

For five days we lived in a three-bedroom trailer which had been used by construction workers when the town was hit by cyclone Vance two years ago. The trailer was a self contained unit but access was difficult.

I needed to use my 10' ramps (stored in the truck for just such an occasion) to enter and exit the place and then we had to deal with a challenging two-person transfer out of my electric wheelchair and into a wicker-type chair borrowed from the porch which was precariously positioned in a 3'X 3' shower cubical, barely comfortable enough for a slim able-bodied person standing up!

My confidence level, not to mention my self esteem was at a record low at this point as I had just endured a frightening shower experience in another motel. I had been transferred into a plastic deck chair inside the shower cubical and was enjoying my bath when the back leg of the chair suddenly collapsed. Before I knew it, I fell backwards hitting my head on the tiled wall behind me and landing hard as both elbows banged on the unforgiving ceramic floor. Badly shaken, I stared up at the ceiling with the water splashing hard on my face and leg still dangling around the flimsy chair and tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Although badly shaken, I was quite lucid and hadn't thought anything was wrong other than a bloody elbow. Christine yelled out for George's help and with Phil's assistance they managed to lift me from the "carnage" and transfer me into the bed.

Now very cold and shivering, I started to feel pain and dizziness from a bump on the back of my head. As I was being dried off, I started to black out and vaguely saw Christine look me in the eyes and ask "are you alright?" At that very moment I didn't recognize her or George and had no idea of my surroundings or what had happened. It was a truly horrible and frightening feeling.

Fortunately, I drifted back to a state of consciousness and started to regain my senses. As a competitive athlete and risk-taker I've had some quite serious concussions and I would say I experienced a minor concussion.

Both Christine and George kept a close eye on me over the next 24 hours and fortunately there were no further symptoms of a serious concussion or head injury.

The next morning I recounted the incident to the motel manager but my tail of woe didn't exactly prompt a very empathic response. All he could say is that he would never again rent out a regular room to someone in a wheelchair and not to worry ... I didn't have to pay for the broken plastic deck chair!

Accessibility is often a difficult concept for the able-bodied to appreciate. In Exmouth, where I met another quad, Cory Cooper, he had the right idea when he convinced the mayor and councillors to spend a day wheeling around Exmouth. That enlightening experience quickly convinced them that Cory's life would be incredibly difficult and compromised if things remained the same..they unanimously decided to make the entire town accessible for Cory and all. Upon my return to Ottawa, I might just do the same!

Over the past 127 days we have clocked 23,072 kilometres ... just three months, 3 more countries and 17,928 kilometres further to go!

To get involved or to donate to the ‘Round The World Challenge, please visit our web site at http://www.roundtheworldchallenge.com or contact the office at 613-274-7955.