00:00I was 21 years old when I contracted meningococcal septicemia.
00:04It's a blood infection that resulted in the amputations of my arms and legs.
00:08I didn't look at the mirror for a long time.
00:10My nose turned black and fell off.
00:12And you lose a lot of confidence.
00:14To come so close to death and emerge as a physically different person,
00:19it's a significant change.
00:21And I do feel I've got a second chance in life.
00:23I haven't swum in many years.
00:25You're away from your chair, you're a bit out of your comfort zone.
00:28But I'm going to go with one of my mates today, go into the pool.
00:37Before I had my incident, I had just moved to Australia to study a degree in journalism.
00:42I was quite carefree. I played a lot of the guitar.
00:45I went out with friends. I was enjoying my life in a new city.
00:49Just doing what most 21 year olds would be doing.
00:52The day I first noticed something was wrong, I started feeling quite nauseous and unwell.
00:57I was throwing up. I was in incredible amount of pain.
01:00I couldn't stand on my feet.
01:02And I was rushed into an emergency room.
01:04I was quite frightened but really unaware what was going on.
01:08The doctors called me to let me know that my son Ripu was in the hospital.
01:13That he was very sick.
01:14And they believed he had meningococcal septicemia.
01:18I was put in a coma initially for three weeks.
01:24When I came out, I basically couldn't move.
01:27I remember looking down at my arms and they were just like these twigs.
01:30Septic shock is like stepping on a land mine but in slow motion.
01:34And you don't know what's going on until the dust settles.
01:37And then you can see what the harm is and what's left.
01:42Ripu got to the stage where the arms or the legs decided that they're not going to survive.
01:47I remember my dad rolling back the bandage to show me my hand.
01:50It was just this shrunken shriveled black hand.
01:53Because essentially they had just died.
01:55And they were just hanging on my body.
01:57I was in hospital for over 250 days.
02:00I had an operation done on my arms and legs.
02:03I didn't look at the mirror for a long time.
02:05I didn't really process it because my nose turned black and fell off.
02:08And you lose a lot of confidence.
02:11After about six months in hospital, I was taken to a rehab centre.
02:15It was really about learning independence because I didn't have much physical strength.
02:19I had to make a lot of adjustments to everything.
02:22Everything changes.
02:24To come so close to death and emerge as a physically different person,
02:29it's a significant change.
02:31And I do feel I've got a second chance in life.
02:34While I was in hospital, I was informed that I received enough credits
02:38to receive a graduate certificate in journalism.
02:40And now I've achieved my dream of becoming a journalist.
02:44That's really what he wanted, what he trained for and he studied.
02:47And that was a really great sense of pride for us that he achieved what he wanted to do.
02:52With his own efforts.
02:54Yeah, how proud of him are you?
02:56Beyond measure, I can't even measure how proud I am.
03:00Hey mate.
03:01Hey mate, how you doing?
03:02How's it going? Good?
03:03Well, I'm very good, thanks.
03:04Thinking about getting back into swimming.
03:07Do you want to head down now and go for a swim?
03:09Yeah mate, let's do it.
03:10Alright, sweet as.
03:13I haven't swum in a very long time, in many years.
03:16It was a big part of my initial rehabilitation.
03:18They started getting me in the pool.
03:20When I first got in there, I just sunk like a rock.
03:22My family had been with me swimming before, but my friends never have.
03:26It's an environment, you know, you're away from your chair, you're a bit out of your comfort zone.
03:31But I'm going to go with one of my mates today, go into the pool.
03:34It's something I'm very keen to start doing.
03:36Now with a friend, now that I've built up my confidence, it's going to be a new experience.
03:43I'm feeling pretty good about heading in the pool.
03:47Yeah, it's pretty exciting actually.
03:50I'm feeling pretty good about it.
03:58It's important to show that even if you have a disability, that doesn't stop you from being able to achieve
04:03incredible things.
04:05My attitude towards life today, I would say I have a profound sense of purpose and gratitude.
04:10I'm very grateful for my friends and my family and the opportunities I've been given in life.
04:16It feels amazing being back in the pool.
04:18Let's get to our friends around you for support.
04:20It's really fantastic and it's great to finally have the confidence to come out here and do this again.
04:25It really illustrates the amount of sort of progress, the amount of strength I have now and how much more
04:31confident I am now.
04:33The journey that I've been on has had many highs and lows.
04:37But the place I'm at now is really a phenomenally positive space.
04:43So it's really been a story of progress and improvement.
04:47And I can say that I'm in a really good place now.
04:51Perhaps the best place I've been in a really long time.
05:07What I'm looking for?
05:08I'm hoping to be a little bit better.
05:08I know if you're a close friend.
05:08Or are you happy to see me?
05:09My presence is definitely a amazing place.
05:09Of course is someone who was asking me to be a good friend and that's if you have a chance
05:09of going to have a good friend.
05:09You
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