Stacey Copas broke her neck and almost drowned in a diving accident when she was 12.
By sharing her experiences of how she adapted to her new way of life, Ms Copas hopes she can help others overcome adversity.
In 1990 Ms Copas, her younger brother, and a few friends were spending time by swimming at a backyard pool on the first hot weekend of summer.
Ms Copas was standing on the side of the pool, preparing to jump in, when she made a decision that almost took her life.
“I thought ‘I want to make this the perfect dive’,” Ms Copas told 891 ABC Adelaide drive host Deb Tribe.
“If I keep my feet together as I dive in, that would make the perfect dive.”
Ms Copas hit the bottom, broke her neck and, unable to move, lay motionless at the bottom of the pool.
Once her brother realised the seriousness of the situation, he swam to the bottom of the pool and pulled her from the water.
At the time it felt like my world had ended, but there was this little part of me that wanted to prove everyone wrong.
Author Stacey Copas
She was rushed to hospital.
“It wasn’t until later that night, in intensive care, that a doctor came and told me that I had actually broken my neck and drowned and that I would never walk again,” Ms Copas said.
On the cusp of her teenage years, Ms Copas was sent home in a wheelchair to face life as a quadriplegic.
“At the time it felt like my world had ended, but there was this little part of me that wanted to prove everyone wrong.”
Ms Copas decided to concentrate on what remained, not what was taken from her by the accident.
“There is a reason why a car has a huge windscreen and a tiny rear vision mirror — it’s because we’re meant to use them in that proportion and that was something that I had to do, keep looking forward,” Ms Copas said.
The skills that Ms Copas learned as a young adult with a disability has provided her with a much sought-after insight by the business community to teach professionals how to respond in times of crisis.
Now 36, she is often engaged by businesses as a motivational speaker to reflect on that day by the pool when her whole life changed.
I look at resilience as the ability to turn adversity into an asset.
Author Stacey Copas
She has also written a book about her life experiences to help others come to terms with facing difficult challenges.
“The pace of change has never been faster, so being able to work with organisations to help their people to be able to embrace the opportunity that is presented by change and adversity so they actually engage with it, and are excited by it, rather than being resistant to it,” she said.
Ms Coppas said she believed the skills needed to overcome adversity could be acquired and likened it to increasing your fitness at a gym.
“I look at resilience as the ability to turn adversity into an asset,” Ms Copas said.
“Some people have more of an aptitude to it, but it is a skill that can be learnt.”
Through preparing and practising for things to go wrong, Ms Copas said when people were faced with real-life adversity they could automatically respond, cope and embrace it.
Ms Copas recently challenged her own adversity and, at the end of 2012, began competing in athletics in discus and sprints.
She is currently training in the hope of being selected for the 100-metre sprints at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
For more details on Ms Copas’ book, How To Be Resilient: The Blueprint For Getting Results When Things Don’t Go To Plan, visit her website.
Topics: disabilities, books-literature, self-help, adelaide-5000, nairne-5252
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