The Champ was down, but his resilience was not.
Source: Microsoft Copilot
Former World Boxing Champion John Famechon was incapacitated, with severe brain injuries, when in August of 1991, he was hit by a car estimated to be travelling at 100 kpm (62 mph) as he was crossing a road near Warwick Farm in Sydney. In October 1992, John was discharged from the hospital; upon discharge, John and Glenys were advised John would never walk or talk again. In December 1993, a new form of complex brain and body (hólos) multi-movement rehabilitation began, which resulted in John returning to a near-normal condition that existed before this accident.
John had now been walking independently for a week. John had taken it upon himself to walk out of the side door of the house, and walk around his front driveway circuit. He did this entirely of his own volition. There was no one with John. No Glenys, no carer, no one; John was walking independently of his own accord. This was the same person who, along with his fiancée Glenys (who were medically informed on the day of discharge from the hospital in October of 1992), that John would never walk or talk again. Glenys recalls what took place on that day:
“John was in a wheelchair, we went into the meeting with the doctor and it was – what he said was, “That there was nothing more that they could do. That, John, you’re in a wheelchair and this is your life now and it’s something that you’ll have to get used to, but this is your life in a wheelchair.” John, you had your chin on your chest, [and your] memory [was] very, very sparse.
He could recall the beginning of his boxing career, but couldn’t remember what he did this morning, what happened yesterday. It was short-term memory that was severely disrupted … “This is what you have to get used to because this is your life from now on,” and we left that meeting, we went outside, we were both crying and … and we came home, um, and it was very – it was a very sad day. It was a sad day because there was nowhere else to go. We didn’t have anywhere else to go and, with a situation like that, you couldn’t hear John speak, you had to put your ear up to his mouth, there was no volume, it was – it was a pretty sad time.”
The reality was that even though John had been engaging in a rehabilitative program that included four days a week of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, during the 14 months since John had been released from hospital into the care of Glenys, John now appeared to be physically regressing. Even while this was taking place, and even though there was unbearable despair, John and Glenys were still somehow open to new ideas, positive thoughts, and they continued to ignore all of this despondency.
“We were very concerned at that time because we saw that John was regressing quite dramatically, and we actually began to think that John was never going to recover. We were at the end of our tether; we did not know what to do and we did not know where to turn to. We were lost and in despair. And then, out of the blue, you came along, and from that moment on, things changed, and we have never looked back since.”
And so it was, here in March of 1994 (after being discharged from hospital in October of 1992), in terms of what John was now achieving, John was walking independently, he was talking, he was articulate and had volume in his voice, the time had arrived to explore if John could run?
John was the unrelenting champion with his humour and irony
Source: Photograph Graham Hartley
With this in mind, I explained to John what we were going to do. After this explanation, John replied, with his engaging and generous wry smile: “If you must.” I replied: “Yes, I must.” John’s instant reply was to say: “Okay then if you must, you do the running.” That reply was so sharp and direct, that it stunned me into silence. I then began to laugh. “Why are you laughing?” asked John quizzically. “Well John, you’ve knocked me out again. I don’t have an answer.” “Good, it’s about time,” John said, smiling.
“Okay, let’s look at it another way.” “Which way?” asked John. “Well, in fact, there is no other way; we have to run.” John smiled and said: “But only if I agree.” You are right, John, only if you agree.” John furrowed his brow, “what if I don’t agree?” “Then we won’t do it!” “Why are you arguing with me?” asked John. I looked at John, “I’m not arguing.” John smiled: “Yes, you are.” I began to laugh: “John’ you’re doing it again; you’ve got me going around in mental circles.” John smiled: “It took you long enough.” I laughed again, “John, you’re the champ.” Without hesitation, John smiled and said: “I know.” To which I replied, “I know that you know; that’s why you are so brilliant.” John turned his head and said: “Let’s get on with this; what’s taking you so long.” All I could do was laugh.
