JAMES McQuillan has returned to the fairways.
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Only eight months after being diagnosed as a quadriplegic, the former Albury footballer played golf at Melbourne’s Sandhurst course earlier this week.
McQuillan hit some shots up to 80 metres in a ParaGolfer mobility chair.
“It was good to get back out there again,” McQuillan said.
“I have missed the golf course a fair bit because I used to go out all the time.
“The week before I hurt myself I played with dad at Corowa and beat him pretty convincingly.
“I struggled to get my first hit off the tee but by the end of it I was launching a few of them.”
McQuillan, who shot scores in the 80s before suffering his injury while playing for Albury in April, hopes to play more golf in Wagga next year in a program run by former top golfer and quadriplegic James Gribble.
Gribble is lobbying for golf to become a Paralympic sport.
“I will probably give it another go,” McQuillan said.
“James brought down two chairs called ParaGolfer and the social aspect of it was all really good as well.”
McQuillan is keeping his sporting options open with wheelchair rugby another possibility as he gradually improves his strength at Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Melbourne.
The signs are positive after he had nerve transfer surgery in September.
“I have a flicker back in my tricep which is exciting,” he said.
“It’s come back quicker than I think they were expecting.
“I’m just waiting to see what other things I can get back over the next four or five months.
“I’m getting a bit more movement back as well.”
While McQuillan is buoyed by his progress, the Charles Sturt University physiotherapy student wants nothing more than to return to his parents’ property at Echuca by Christmas.
If his courage in making the Ovens and Murray grand final only weeks after major surgery is any guide, it appears a safe bet.
“I would love to settle back at Echuca for a while and then start uni at Albury part-time in February,” he said.