ABOUT

On the 31st of August 2014, Joel had a fall and broke his C2, C5, T3, T4 & T5 vertebrae. The injury caused irreparable spinal cord damage. Joel is classified as a “C-5'“ Quadriplegic.

Joel is paralysed from the shoulders down. He has no movement in his legs but fortunately activate his biceps, forearms and wrists. 

With the injury originally occurring in Adelaide where Joel was working, he was brought to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he stayed for 10 days, before being airlifted to Melbourne's Austin Hospital. He spent the next 12 months at The Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Hospital where he underwent extensive rehab sessions to further improve his skills and learn to adjust to life as a quadriplegic before moving home.

Joel had been serving in the Australian Army for the past 5 years as a Rifleman at 7RAR, Adelaide when he had his accident. He had recently returned home from a 8 month deployment in Afghanistan in December 2013.