Willoughby, Mr Sam

Ms COOK (Fisher) (12:17): I move:

That this house recognises Sam Willoughby and his achievements and wishes him well in recovery from a serious training accident.

Sam Willoughby, also known as the BMX Bandit, is a South Australian Olympic silver medallist and two-time world champion BMX cyclist. Proving his strength and determination, he left Adelaide at the age of 16 to go to California to race. He stayed at the home of other cyclists until he earned enough money to support himself. As a junior, he won BMX titles in 2008 and 2009 and won a silver medal in the 2012 London Olympic Games. He was recognised as a junior talent by winning the Australian Institute of Sport Junior Athlete of the Year Award in 2012. In 2014, he won the world championship in Rotterdam and has been ranked number one in his sport.

Sam competed in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, having torn his cruciate ligament six months earlier. He and debut Olympian Anthony Dean, another South Australian, put in amazing efforts to be the top two qualifiers for the final which, under the circumstances, was remarkable in itself. Everyone in the final knew the Australians were the ones to beat. My husband and I set our alarms dutifully and sat transfixed to the television in the middle of the night to watch. In the final, Sam and Anthony finished sixth and eighth respectively.

Following the Olympics, the Minister for Recreation and Sport announced the state government would name the newly announced UCI standard BMX track in the southern suburbs the Sam Willoughby International BMX Track. The track will be a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) standard BMX track built at O'Halloran Hill. The BMX track is a $3.5 million investment by the state government and two local councils, the cities of Marion and Onkaparinga, each contributing $750,000 towards the project.

It was wonderful to spend time with Sam at the announcement of this. Sam was humble and so very generous with his time with many young BMXers from the Hallett Cove club and Happy Valley club attending, along with their parents. He spoke very fondly to me of his fiancée, Alise Post, a Rio games silver medallist in the BMX. We laughed at how we hoped together that Alise would enjoy training and racing at her new home track in O'Halloran Hill. He was so happy to be home spending time with his family—family is very important to Sam.

We were all so saddened to hear of the of the horrible training accident that he recently encountered. The accident, which occurred during a training session in the USA, saw Sam land dreadfully on his head. He has broken his neck, leaving him with fractures to his C6 and C7 vertebrae, severely compressing his spinal cord and leaving him with no movement from the chest down. Although there is no guarantee that he will walk again, Sam is showing the strength and determination that saw him become world champion and an Olympic medallist and refusing to be in a wheelchair on his wedding day in April next year.

The support through this time shown by family, friends and fans has been terrific to see. Sam's parents issued a public statement, thanking everybody, which partly read:

The huge outpouring of support from friends, family, fans and supporters has been incredible, and many of you have already asked how you can provide assistance to Sam in some way to ensure he has access to the best possible rehabilitation treatment. As a result, we have set up a portal where you can offer support, both through financial assistance and messages for Sam, and can also be kept up to date with Sam's progress. Any donation, great or small, and any message of support will assist in Sam remaining strong throughout his road to recovery.

I know that Sam takes great interest in the messages that are sent to him through Twitter tags and through Facebook as well. It is very positive for him to see those. The road to recovery is a costly one. The health system in the United States of America is very different from what we have in Australia. They are not privy to the same benefits that we are, so it comes at a huge cost.

The family has set up a website where people can donate funds towards his recovery. Should you wish to donate, please visit road2recovery.com/strengthfor91. A hashtag has been set up where you can show your support to Sam: #strengthfor91. The electorate of Fisher considers Sam as one of its own, and there are several wonderful local initiatives that have been set up also to assist with fundraising and for the healing of the community and support for Sam.

The Happy Valley BMX Club, Sam's own club, a place of happiness for Sam and his family, is running a series of four sausage sizzles at training. I attended the first one last week with my family, and I will attend at least one more, with two of them left to happen. They will occur every Tuesday from about 6pm to 7pm, and everybody is welcome to come down and see the beautiful Happy Valley BMX training area under gorgeous big gum trees. They will happen next week and the week after. Thank you also to the community members, including the Collins Parade butcher and followers on Facebook who have put their hand up to donate the sausages to increase the profit margins and the fundraising capacity, which is amazing.

Sam's mum, Sharon, is the deputy principal of the Thiele Primary School, which is a part of the campus school in Aberfoyle Park, part of Fisher. She has been connected with that school for a long time and she is part of the community there and a wonderful woman and a great leader. The school is holding a fundraiser next week, and I look forward to attending and again assisting with fundraising efforts. All these community events will add up—after all, it is all the small drops that fill the bucket.

They follow on from radio station FIVEaa dedicating several hours of their sports show on 23 September when, along with many other South Aussies, I phoned in to make pledges to support Sam Willoughby. Sam is one of our own. He is a kind-hearted, genuine Aussie champ and I think the world of him. Our thoughts are with Sam and his family during this tough time. Along with the South Australian parliament, I wish him all the best through his recovery. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:24): I, too, rise to speak on and support this motion extending best wishes to Sam Willoughby during his recovery. News of the training accident that left Sam Willoughby with a terrible injury was distressing to hear. I am sure many in this place were very upset and, in some form, stressed to hear of a previous world champion enduring such a horrific accident. During that routine training session in the US, Sam landed awkwardly, fracturing his C6 and C7 vertebrae which severely compressed his spinal cord, leaving him with no movement from the chest down.

The two-time world BMX champion and Olympic silver medallist is now fighting in rehabilitation so that he can walk down the aisle when he marries his fiancée, Alise Post. The 25 year old was flown to hospital and placed in intensive care, after surgeons had removed his C6 vertebra, replaced it with a titanium cage and fused the C5 and C7 vertebrae with a plate and four screws. He has regained the use of his arms and is slowly regaining sensation in his legs, which is very positive news.

The news certainly shocked the cycling community in South Australia that have given Sam overwhelming support over the years. There was also a lot of social media support, with the hashtag #strengthfor91—the year Sam was born and his official racing number—posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The 2012 and 2014 BMX World Champion finished sixth in the men's final at the Rio Olympics and afterwards returned to Adelaide briefly to visit his family and friends before flying back to his base in San Diego in the US to prepare for the remaining world cups and the rest of the American season.

Then the tragic incident happened. He had just revealed that he had been riding with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee for six months prior to the Rio Olympics, where he was shattered not to put in a medal-winning performance. Sam has always been a determined fighter. He was born in Adelaide's southern suburbs, and he pretended he was a BMX world champion in his backyard as a youngster before chasing down his dream at the age of 16, when he began racing in the US and then four years later became the BMX World Champion.

His current fight is certainly a new one, but Sam has South Australia, and no doubt Australia, right behind him throughout his recovery. Horrible accidents such as this one incurred by Sam certainly put life into perspective. As a motorsport enthusiast myself, I have seen a number of horrific injuries during my time involved in sport, particularly noting how debilitating a serious injury is overseas, away from your home and your loved ones. The horrific injuries I have seen during my time were never something I wanted to see or hear. My best wishes are with Sam for his recovery and to let him know that we are all behind him. A post by Sam's fiancée, Alise, updating Sam's condition reads:

The days have been getting busier and busier here at rehab for Sam! He is now finishing up two solid weeks of rehab and is doing great. All the staff love him here, because as you can imagine his work ethic, motivation and intensity have made quite the impression on those around him. I can honestly say he's probably working harder than he ever has before, which is pretty impressive as we all know how intense he already was with his day to day training! From dawn to dusk he's filled with individual and group therapy sessions that are helping him become more and more functional both using what he already has, and working towards gaining things back.

Balance and mobility have been a big focus thus far and Sam is picking up on everything quickly. Some highlights from his therapy thus far include meeting a 3x Paralympic Rugby medallist who shared his story with a group of young men like Sam…it's amazing how many Paralympic athletes we are always surrounded and inspired by at the Olympic Training Center, but now we can gain even that much more respect for the path they've had to endure to get where they are…they are truly incredibly strong people with great life lessons to share. Another highlight would be using the FES bike to help stimulate his legs in a motion and 'feeling' so familiar to him. Some other highlights include getting in the pool for the first time and getting stood up in a special standing frame they use to reacclimatise people to an upright position.

The visits and presence of our good friend and [team manager] Jason Carnes definitely help in this situation as Jason always has plenty of stories and laughs to share that keep spirits up and actually physically kept Sam's blood pressure levels in check as they stood him up...thanks Jase! He was also a great therapy buddy for Sam during his upper body strength classes as anyone who knows him can imagine…

So yes, on top of all the physical stimulation, the support of friends, family, and fans from around the world has played an incredible role in the healing process and keeping Sam's spirits up—THANK YOU to everyone who has sent positive energy and kind messages our way. Keep spreading the love.

A website has been set up for Sam for people to send messages of support and donate towards Sam's rehabilitation costs.

As the member for Fisher has said, the medical system is very different in the US. I can speak firsthand about friends who have had accidents and debilitating injuries through water ski racing, in particular, in the US. I have a number of friends who have had injuries that have been lifelong that have also been financially challenging. The support website for Sam is www.road2recovery.com/strengthfor91. To date, almost $40,000 has been raised, which is a great effort.

As the shadow minister for sport, the South Australian Liberal Party and this chamber send their best wishes to Sam for a full recovery. I hope this injury is something Sam will put behind him very quickly. Sam, yes, it is a jolt in life, but it is also a test of strength, and you, my friend, you have that internal strength.

Ms COOK (Fisher) (12:31): I thank the member for Chaffey for his contribution, as well, on this very important motion sharing our thoughts with Sam Willoughby and his family. I would like to thank everyone in advance for their consideration of any offers of support they can give and also note that Sam is one of the first people to jump when other people need his help. He has participated in being an ambassador for programs such as the Happiness Cycle, which has donated many thousands of bikes to young people in need.

I am sure we cannot wait for him to get up and moving and to participate in that, and also to walk his beautiful fiancée, Alise, down the aisle. In saying that, I thank the opposition for its support of the motion and commend it to members.

Motion carried.