IT was a crisp autumn morning in picturesque Berry on the south coast of NSW.
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The sun had peeped over the horizon and was reaching for the sky as Alex Hale set off on his morning ride.
Hale, a lieutenant commander in the Navy, had barely made it two kilometres down the road when, in an instant, his world changed.
A motorist had fallen asleep at the wheel of their car and careered into Hale from behind.
His bike was a mangled mess. The rider worse off.
"The car was travelling at about 100 kilometres an hour," Hale said. "The bloke fell asleep and drifted out of the lane. I don't remember being hit but I do recall snippets - my wife holding my face as I was getting loaded in to the helicopter to fly up to Royal North Shore Hospital. I woke up two days later."
Hale, 41, suffered a vertebral fracture at T12. That led to a bleed which went up to T10 and resulted in T9 paraplegia.
He has no sensation from the chest down.
As well as spinal injuries, Hale had a plate inserted in his clavicle, multiple bilateral rib fractures, two collapsed lungs and fractures in his ankles and tibia.
The date, April 20, 2023.
Life had changed - not halted - forever.
On June 17, Hale, wife Erin, seven-year-old son Max and their support crew - Team Hale - fly to Orlando, Florida for the Warrior Games.
Less than 14 months after a life-altering accident, Hale will be part of Team Australia and compete in an incredible five sports - cycling, rowing, wheelchair basketball, archery and shooting.
The Warrior Games, staged in the US, are the forerunner to the Invictus Games, for which Prince Harry is the flag bearer, and involve Defence personnel in adaptive sports.
"Two days after regaining consciousness, I was looking up adaptive mountain bikes," Hale said. "I would have started searching earlier but it took them five days to find my phone on the side of the road.
"I was pretty keen to get back out there. Life had changed, I had to adapt. I understood and realised pretty early that this is it. This is the injury I have got. I have to move forward and try to be optimistic."
The driver of the car which struck Hale was charged with dangerous and negligent driving. He later pleaded guilty to negligent driving and received community service and had his license suspended.
The Hales didn't invest much energy into the legal proceedings. They were too busy getting on with life.
ROAD TO RECOVERY
After two months at Royal North Shore Hospital and a further three months at a rehabilitation centre in Ryde, Hale and Erin returned home to Newcastle.
Hale, a veteran of 22 years service in the Navy, had been stationed in Nowra in his dream position - aviation engineer for 816 Squadron.
They bought a place at Eleebana, near the home of his parents Rasa and Ian in Warners Bay.
The immediate - and most important - goal was to be out of hospital and on deck in time for Max's kindergarten presentation.
"There was nothing bittersweet about leaving Sydney, it was all sweet," Erin wrote in a blog she kept during the early stages of her husband's rehabilitation.
"When we hit the bottom of the driveway at Warners Bay we started blaring the horn to announce to the neighbourhood that we were home. Max and Alex's folks were waiting for us out the front with posters, balloons and decorations in the trees.
"In that moment, everything felt right for the first time in five long months. We were home. Alex's brother came over. We drank champagne, we hung out, went to bed early and slept like the dead. It was perfect."
Home life has not been without challenges. Their family home is not fully modified as yet and Hale is "still managing my body".
He still uses a hired wheelchair.
"There are hard days," Erin said. "There are really crappy days. But they are usually parts of days. Alex doesn't tend to lose the whole day to feeling sorry for himself.
"There is that determination and realisation that this doesn't define who he is. It is obviously huge and it has impacted everything, but it hasn't taken away who he is. And that is really important.
"Who he is, is an incredible human being. One who had 22 years of Navy service and loved every minute of it.
"To be part of the Warrior Games and being part of Team Australia - the adaptive sports program - has been such a saving grace. It has kept him connected. And it has put him among peers who understand what he is going through in a way his family can't."
However, family is Hale's core motivation. His determination to get on with life, push the boundaries.
"My wife and son are the ones who drive me to do things," he said. "I have to get up the courage internally to make it happen. Sometimes it works out, other times it doesn't. It is still an accomplishment. It is about taking little victories. Getting up and out of bed is a major achievement.
"I was only out of rehab three months when I applied for the Invictus Games (which are being held in Canada in February). I thought I had 12 months to train for it. They offered me the Warrior Games which was six months away.
"Silly me. I nominated for five sports thinking I would get three. The head coach said if he was me, he'd compete in all five sports. I thought: ' you're not in a wheelchair'.
"Ultimately, I am doing all five."
Hale has "dabbled" in a few of the sports previously.
Most of his training has been focused on hand cycling and archery.
"The bike has been donated to me by a veteran named Hank through the Invictus program," Hale said. "I have my own adaptive mountain bike being built in Canada. That will arrive after I get back from the US.
"I try and get out a couple of times a week for training rides. I did some minor adjustments last week and managed to shave eight minutes off my best time for 10 kilometres."
Hale attended a Team Australia training camp last year in the lead up to the Games in Dusseldorf, Germany.
"It made connections for him, it lit the flame and he said: 'I want to be part of this'," Erin said.
THE SUPPORT CREW
As they have been since the accident, a support crew will be every step of the way with Hale in the US.
Team Hale, comprising of Erin, Max, Rasa, Ian, brothers Tim Hale and Kristian Hale, sister-in-law Casey Hale, mother-in-law Cathy Boyce and sister-in-law Kylie Boyce, will be decked out in supporter gear including hats, shirts and socks.
"The fact we have all his family and some of mine coming is pretty great," Erin said. "We are the biggest family and friends contingent and are leading the cheer squad.
"Alex is the quietest of all of us. The attention is new for him but it's good.
"Having family around has been so important throughout Alex's recovery. Ian and Rasa, Tim and Casey were all overseas at the time of the accident and dropped everything to come back to help look after him. Ian had some massive health challenges during that time and my parents came here to care for Max. We have been lucky that we have had that many supports around us."
FLYING HIGH
Hale had his pilot's license at age 16, before he learnt how to drive a car.
"There was a course run down at Cooranbong," he said. "I completed the theory for a commercial pilot licence as well."
After finishing school at Warners Bay High, he went to the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
"Flying is expensive so I looked at the Defence Force," he said. "I joined the navy but not as a pilot. I went in as what they now call an aviation welfare officer. It's like a co-pilot, but you are responsible for the mission and weapons system. I completed almost 12 months of training. The week before graduation, I got scrubbed. I didn't make the grade. It is a very tough course. Out of the 12 in my course, only one made it through. It was me and him at the end.
"I went back to Canberra and changed to the engineering stream before being posted at [naval air station] HMAS Albatross on the south coast. I got my competency certificate and did a range of jobs there including going to the US to introduce the new MH 60 Romeo helicopters. I did the training for the US on how to maintain them."
Hale and Erin, who also works in Defence, spent more than a year in the US, stationed at Patuxent River (Maryland), New Bern (North Carolina) and Jacksonville (Florida).
He was based in Nowra at the time of the accident and officially finishes up in the Navy in July.
"Defence has been great in terms of setting me up," he said. "Whether I go back into engineering, I can't say. I certainly can't go back into uniform, but I can link back into Defence. We will see what happens. I am keeping my options open.
"Everyone says the first two years are really informative in terms of understanding what the injury is and stabilising it. I have gone pretty intense with this half way through it.
"I am trying to get into a good routine. That is what this first two years is about - establishing a good routine."
PEDALS TO THE MEDALS
Team Australia consists of 30 athletes, who all stay together in a hotel and function like an Olympic team, with doctors, physios, masseurs and coaches.
The Warriors Games start on June 21 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort and run for 10 days.
"Team Australia embodies the values of courage, resilience and mateship, and participation in the Warrior Games not only highlights their athletic talents but also underscores our unwavering commitment to their resilience, rehabilitation and recovery," Federal Minister for Defence Personnel and Veteran Affairs Matt Keogh said when announcing the team last month.
"Each member of Team Australia has their own story of triumph over adversity. Through adaptive sports, camaraderie and mutual support, the United States led Warrior Games serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for all those who have faced adversity in the course of their service to the nation."
The US will be represented by five teams - Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Special Operations.
"They say it is not about the medals, but everyone will be striving for them," Hale said.
"To be honest, getting there is a massive achievement for me. It has only been 14 months.
"I see this as a springboard into what is the realms of possibility.
"Being there will be the main thing. Surviving and getting through every event. I have seven consecutive days of sport, and different sports. Sometimes the events double up on a day. It will be pretty intense. I want to do well."
Not surprisingly, Hale is already looking ahead. Not just as an athlete but also at ways he can help others.
"If I get my Games done, then I can help others going through this," Hale said. "That has been it since day dot.
"The next Invictus Games is in Canada and will be a winter games. We will see how that goes but I am very interested in a couple of sports. Wheelchair basketball is on offer as is wheelchair rugby and wheelchair curling. Plus there are snow sports like skiing.
"What could possibly go wrong."