"JAMES McQuillan: An Inspiration To Us All. A True Tiger — TBS."
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The thoughts of a community were summed up in one banner.
It was grand final day for the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League, and the words would truly prove inspiring as the Tigers came home with the flag — and they did it for their injured mate.
Defying doctor’s orders, McQuillan had lost none of his fighting spirit in his determination to see his team defeat arch-rivals Yarrawonga.
“He’s with us forever and is as much a part of this win as I am,” Albury co-coach Daniel Maher had said after the emotional victory.
It was in a game against the same side earlier in the season that James McQuillan suffered an injury that shocked the Border community.
Described as a quiet achiever who always put his team first, McQuillan did what he always did on the footy field — but an innocuous looking incident changed his life.
“I leant over the footy, going in to pick it up and I ran into a bloke’s thigh,” he told the Nine Network’s The Footy Show host Garry Lyon.
“No malice involved.”
Brendan Fevola was one of the first to realise the severity of the situation, which led to McQuillan being diagnosed as quadriplegic.
Writing in The Border Mail he described the moment McQuillan told him he couldn’t feel his arms and legs.
“It didn’t take me long to realise James was in a lot of trouble ... and I felt sick in the stomach,” he said.
“In 29 years of playing, I’ve never had a game finish before the final siren but, as you can imagine, this wasn’t a normal game of footy.”
After the initial shock, there was an outpouring of support from the wider community, and the Border’s sporting fraternities drew together.
From the Albury Steamers who raised more than $11,000, to boxing gyms and soccer clubs, everyone wanted to contribute to the James McQuillan Future Fund.
But tigers never lose their stripes and McQuillan has lost none of his fight.
Just last month he was back on the fairways thanks to a ParaGolfer mobility chair.
A keen golfer who shot scores in the 80s before his injury, McQuillan said he hoped to play more golf at Wagga next year as part of a program run by former top golfer and quadriplegic James Gribble. He’s also looked at the option of wheelchair rugby as his strength gradually improves at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Melbourne.
And he’s even said he believed he would walk again.
“It could be in a year, or 30 when a new technology is discovered,” he said.
But since nerve transfer surgery in September the signs are positive.
“I have a flicker back in my tricep, which is exciting,” he said.
“It’s come back quicker than I think they were expecting.”
One thing is sure, the Tiger has shown that nothing is impossible.