Article by Julian Linden, courtesy of the Courier Mail.
Three years after she cheated death in a horrific bike accident, Paralympic sensation Alexa Leary has stolen the spotlight by winning her second gold medal to fulfil a psychic’s prophecy that her family kept secret.
Following her earlier win in the mixed medley relay, the Queenslander captured the individual 100m freestyle gold by breaking her own world record in the heats, then again in the final when she stopped the clock at 59.53 seconds.
When she turned around and looked at the scoreboard to see what she had just done, she blurted out the F-bomb.
She then climbed out of the water, and the crowd at La Defense Arena went crazy watching her celebrate with an impromptu dance after the medal presentation.
“I’m amazed that I did it,” she said. “I really just wanted to break the world record and I did. I broke it this morning but tonight was my show and it was a great one.”
Already adored in Australia because of her uplifting tale of survival and zest for life, Leary has rocketed to stardom as the princess of the Paris Paralympics. Her swimming is spectacular, but her unbridled joy is melting hearts worldwide.
“I’ve just come so far in life,” she said. “Like being told three years ago that I wouldn’t live. But I am, and once again I proved the world wrong, because I’m walking and I’m talking when we were told that I would never.”
Leary’s courage is one of the most uplifting stories of 2024 because just three years ago, her mum and dad were facing a parent’s worst nightmare.
They were told to say goodbye to their daughter when she was in a coma in hospital after a bike crash fractured her skull, scapula, ribs and leg and punctured a lung.
She sustained permanent brain and leg injuries so bad that she was in a coma, spent 111 days in hospital and had a series of major operations.
Eight times, her parents were told by doctors she wasn’t going to make it. At one point, when she was in the intensive care unit, her father Russ went to a clairvoyant to try to find some answers and was told something extraordinary and completely unexpected.
“When I was in ICU, my dad got a fortune teller and the fortune teller read that I wanted to go to the Paralympics,” she said. “And I’m here. Oh my god, I did it.”
Russ and his wife Belinda were in the stands in Paris to see their daughter’s success.
Russ said it was “truly unreal” watching her win gold, break the world record, and create “sporting history”.
“We knew she had her hands full as there’s plenty of great swimmers against her but she really is just incredible,” he said. “A gold is amazing but a world record is incomprehensible. Three years ago I stood over her hospital bed and we honestly didn’t know if she would live or die … now she’s created sporting history. They’re calling the relay and 100m effort some of the greatest swims of all time, so it’s truly unreal.”
