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Andrew Regan almost lost everything after a tragic rugby accident left him as a quadriplegic but now he’s working hard to give back to the community that helped support him at his lowest point. The father-of-one ran onto Endeavour Oval in Orange on April 23, 2022, to represent his local club the Orange Emus, only to be rushed to hospital with significant spinal injuries, including a broken neck and damage to his C4 and C5 vertebrae.
He was then airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney where he would spend the next 10 months — including his son Gus’ first birthday — with the only movement below his neck being a slight shrug of his shoulders. “All of my thoughts were just ‘how on earth am I going to raise this child?’ and ‘how am I going to be an effective parent?” He told 7NEWS.com.au. “I just love being a dad so much, and and that was probably the most heartbreaking thing at the time.” To help alleviate some of the financial pressure faced by not only Regan but his wife Jessie, a GoFundMe was launched by a close friend which raised more than $420,000 for the young family – far and beyond anything they expected. “Our community, people we know, people we don’t know just came out of the woodwork and donated,” he said, adding that “it turned something horrible into something manageable”. The massive donation drive allowed for Regan to move back home and start working with a local physiotherapist to try and get back on his feet. “We just stuck at it and focused on the day-by-day, doing as much as I could possible do,” he said. “I got to there point where I could sort of stand up, that was really exciting, and then after a couple of years we took the leap and figured out I could sort of hold myself up while my physios helped me take steps.” Being able to move independently gas opened the door to him and Gus – now four – to bond more, with the pair now getting to leave the house together. “We go on little adventures together, the other day we went to the supermarket,” he said. “The two of us managed to just go and buy two litres of milk, which was a lot of fun for quadriplegic and a four-year-old.” The leaps and bound Regan had made through his training came as the three-year anniversary of the accident creeped up, sparking a lightbulb in his head. “I had the thought: ‘wouldn’t it be great if I could essentially reclaim the day and get down to the footy oval where I had the accident’,” he said. “I’ll just go down there with my physios and maybe my family to just walk 100 metres and sort of pat myself on the back.” But after everything the local community had done to help him stand back up, Regan felt compelled to return the favour. “We are very indebted and we constantly feel indebted to our community, and I’ve got the perspective to know just how close it, I came to losing it all,’ he said. “When you’re faced with that, you realise what’s important and and what’s important is the community that you’re a part of and your connections with the people around you.” Regan decided to start his own GoFundMe to raise funds for the Emus Foundation, which is tied to his local team but also supports regional rugby clubs. He also decided to open up the event to locals, challenging them to see how far they could run in the time it took him to walk from try line to try line – longer than he’d walked in one session since the accident. It took Regan about an hour while battling an uneven surface and the cold, but was met with cheers from dozens of people as he crossed the finish line having not only finished a massive feat but also raising more than $40,000. “It was just the most uplifting and amazing experience for everyone who came along,” he said. “I honestly would have been happy to stop at the 90-metre mark, but with everyone there, I had to do it.” Regan’s efforts led to him being recognised at GoFundMe’s 10th anniversary of in Australia on Thursday, days before he starts another grueling challenge on Monday. He is now looking to recreate his 100m every day for 10 days straight as part of Nedd’s Uncomfortable Challenge, started by endurance athlete Nedd Brockmann to raise money for homelessness. “I’ve never even done it two days in a row, I’ve only ever done it twice in one week,” he said. “It’s really exciting to see what it’s going to be like doing it every day for 10 days.”
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