- After a fun night out with friends, Drue suddenly lost feeling in his legs and was rushed to hospital.
- Doctors discovered he had suffered a rare spinal infarction — a stroke of the spine that left him paralysed from the waist down.
- Now home and adapting to life in a wheelchair, Drue is determined to stay positive and rebuild his independence.
Here Drue,26, from Ipswitch Qld tells his own story in his own words.
As music blared through the speakers, I swayed my hips on stage.
‘Yeah, Drue!’ my workmates cheered from the audience.
It was June 2025, and I’d gone to watch a cabaret show with my colleagues from Coles, Elizabeth, Stacey, Jaclyn, Krystal, Jess and Patricia.
After the show ended, I’d been selected for a dance-off against another audience member.
Kicking my legs in the air, I struck a final pose as the song ended.
When the curtains closed around 8pm we decided to head to the casino.
READ MORE: Holiday horror: I was paralysed by a worm living inside me
Krystal, our designated driver, dropped us at the train station at Ipswich.
But as I stepped out of the car, my legs felt like jelly as I stumbled towards the platform.
I’d had six cocktails – not enough to make me feel as unstable as I did.
Grabbing a bottle of water from the vending machine, I chugged it down. But the tingly sensation in my legs only intensified.
As I leaned against a bin to steady myself, my legs suddenly gave way. Luckily my friends managed to catch me before my head hit the concrete.
One of the girls called my boyfriend Locklen, 26, to pick me up. When he arrived 15 minutes later, it took all five of my friends and him to haul me into the front seat of the car.
By now I could barely feel my legs.
‘Please, can I just go home to bed?’ I begged.
Suddenly my legs gave way
‘No way,’ Locklen protested, driving me to the hospital. When we arrived around 9.30pm, Emergency staff had to help me from the car into a wheelchair as my legs were completely numb.
In the waiting room, I tried to gauge what I could feel.
I was able to wiggle my toes, but three hours on I couldn’t move or feel anything from my hips down. My lower back began to ache in excruciating pain.
What’s happening to me? I fretted.
Doctors gave me painkillers before ordering an MRI, CAT scan, blood tests and a spinal tap.
‘You have a mass of white blood cells attacking your spinal cord,’ one doctor told me, after I was admitted to the ward. ‘It’s cutting off sensation, but we can’t figure out why.’
My parents, Vana, 46, and Daniel, 48, and little brother Levi, 13, came to be by my side.
On day three, I was moved to the neurology ward where testing continued to rule out autoimmune conditions like lupus, as well as cancer.
Finally, two weeks later, neurologists had an answer.
READ MORE: Paralysed…but I walked down the aisle!
‘You’ve had a spinal infarction – a stroke of the spine,’ one specialist said, explaining that the blood flow stopped so long that part of my spinal cord and the nervous system within my back had died.
‘It’s unlikely you’ll ever regain feeling in your legs or walk again,’ she added.
It felt like my world stopped as tears spilled down my cheeks. It meant no more dancing, bushwalking, or swimming at the beach – all the things I loved.
Locklen arrived as the news sank in. Thankfully, the medical staff told him. I could tell he was shocked, but he didn’t let me see it.
‘Everything is going to be okay,’ he promised.
But telling my family that day was one of the hardest moments. It was the first time I’d ever seen Dad cry. ‘It’s not fair, son,’ he sobbed.
‘I won’t let this beat me,’ I vowed.
True to my word, I threw myself into rehab and physio twice a day, with members of the spinal injury team. For 12 weeks I relearned how to shift myself from the bed to the wheelchair and build strength in my arms.
It’s unlikely you’ll ever regain feeling in your legs or walk again
My family, Locklen and the girls from work were my biggest cheer squad – sending me support and visiting me.
The doctors suspect a piece of one disc in my spine came loose and went into my bloodstream, causing a blockage. But we may never know the true cause.
Doctors confirmed there was nothing I could’ve done to prevent it. If I’d been at home playing video games or napping, the same thing would’ve happened.
Today, I am paralysed from my hips down, but I refuse to let it dull my shine.
After being discharged this month, it’s been strange getting used to navigating my way around our home in a wheelchair, but Locklen is a huge help.
And thanks to generous donations from friends and family, we were able to re-do my bathroom so it’s wheelchair accessible, widen doorways in the house, and add a lower kitchen bench, to make things easier for me.
I haven’t returned to work as an online manager with Coles – I’m focusing all my energy on recovery.
I never imagined a night out dancing could end in paraplegia.
But I take comfort in the fact that my injury was inevitable. Nothing I could have done would’ve changed the outcome.
While I’m still on the road to my new normal, I’m not afraid of the future.
Whatever life throws at me, I’ll roll with it.
Visit GoFundMe and search Support Drue’s journey: From hospital to hope
