Australian Paralympic dual-gold medallist Alexa Leary has revealed shocking details about the day she decided to take her own life – and the two words she told her brother after she decided to fight on.
Alexa, 23, had a stunning Paris Paralympic Games campaign, claiming gold in the 100m freestyle swimming after single-handedly carrying the Aussie relay team to first place two days earlier.
The achievement marked another incredible milestone in the increasingly rich chapter of what she terms her ‘second life’.
Alexa, once a star triathlete, came off her bike in a near-fatal accident in Queensland in July 2021, leaving her with brain damage and several long-term injuries.
More than once, doctors informed her parents, Russ and Belinda, they should prepare to say goodbye to their daughter.
Despite the doctors’ grim prognosis, Alexa began to breathe independently after her ventilator was removed.
Alexa Leary (pictured after winning gold at the Paris Paralympics) has opened up about the mental health challenges she’s had to overcome since her life-changing accident
Leary (pictured with her parents Russ and Belinda) had to learn how to walk again after a horrific bike accident in 2021 came incredibly close to claiming her life
Her parents remained steadfast by her side during her 111-day hospital stay as she learned to walk again and adjust to permanent brain damage.
Searching for answers and hope, Leary’s parents turned to a clairvoyant who made the eerily accurate prediction that the swimmer would rise to become a Paralympic gold medallist.
The mental battles were huge and at times Alexa found herself in a dark place.
‘I was really low – and because my emotions hit me a bit harder than ever, really, I was very depressed,’ Alexa told News Corp.
‘I was like, I don’t want to be here because there’s no point, really. I was just very sad most days, and that’s what brings along anger.
‘When you’re so sad about your own life, you’re going to be angry to the world. So that’s how I saw it.’
On the day she came close to ending it all, one of her brothers dropped her off at a walking track in Noosa, and the pair became separated with no phone reception.
‘I was so down on myself. I did get this lady, when I tried to do something to myself, she did catch me. I don’t even know her name. I’ve got goosebumps [talking about this]’, Leary said.
Leary who used swimming as a way to recover after hitting rock bottom during her long fight to recover from life-changing injuries
Leary (pictured at this year’s Melbourne Cup) said she was 21 when she tried to take her own life but was interrupted by a stranger
‘She caught me and she said, “What are you doing?”. She walked with me. I’ve got goosebumps everywhere. She just walked with me for a little bit.’
Alexa says it was a while before she could get in contact with her brother to let him know she was back from the brink.
‘I let him know, it was two hours away for him, so he obviously thought I was gone,’ she recalls.
‘I remember when I got in the car, I messaged him and I said, “I’m here”. He’s bawling his eyes out and so was I, I was crying with him.
‘It was just a tough moment for me because I was happy to leave because of how sad I was.’
Alexa’s father Russell remembers the experience vividly.
‘Thank heaven we found her because that night, she was gone. She had tried a couple of other times,’ he said.
‘We had to work out we’ve got to fight through this. A lot of brain-damaged people commit suicide because they lose everyone because of their anger.’
Leary’s incredible Paralympics put an exclamation mark on her recovery
After she won her second gold medal in Paris, Alexa had to fight back tears when she received a special video message from the doctor who performed the surgery that saved her life.
Dr Norman Ma recorded the clip so it could be played to Leary when she appeared on A Current Affair after her victory.
‘It feels amazing,’ she said of her dual gold medal triumph.
‘I am so proud of myself but I am so thankful for my family and honestly my mum and dad, that got me here.
‘We got the medals together really.’
Leary’s dad said Ma was ‘incredible’.
‘He said “if we don’t take her skull off, she will die”,’ Russell said.
‘He was just incredible and the way that whole staff looked after us for three months, four months, we became family to them. RBWH [Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital], they’re legends.’
