Aussie Paralympics hopeful opens up about the drug-fuelled party that left him PARALYSED when he jumped off a fifth-storey balcony: ‘I took what I thought was marijuana’
- Tristan Orchard’s life changed when he smoked synthetic marijuana at a party
- Orchard jumped off a five-story balcony and suffered a serious spinal injury
- He now dreams of representing Australia at the Paralympics in LA in 2028
Tristan Orchard’s life changed forever in 2019 when he smoked synthetic marijuana at a mate’s party and then woke up the following day in a hospital bed unable to feel his legs.
Orchard, 23, has a very different life now and plans to represent Australia at the 2028 Paralympics in wheelchair tennis – a sport he discovered while recovering from his serious spinal injury.
The Brisbane-based athlete trains every day at his newfound sport and hopes to also compete in Brisbane’s 2032 Paralympics – and recently opened up about the night his world turned upside down.
Para-athlete Tristan Orchard (pictured right) plans to represent Australia at the Paralympics in tennis in LA in 2028 and in Brisbane in 2032. He discovered tennis while in rehab for a serious spinal injury
Orchard pictured serving. The Aussie has opened up about how his life changed when he smoked synthetic marijuana at a party – causing him to go into psychosis and jump off a five-story balcony.
‘I took what I thought was marijuana and it turned out to be a synthetic drug,’ Orchard told the Herald Sun.
‘I remember having a head spin and the next thing I remember is waking up in Adelaide in a spinal unit.’
Orchard, who was in Darwin at the time of the accident, had to be told he had broken several vertebrae and his arm when he jumped off a fifth-storey balcony.
His injuries were so serious that he was transported to an Adelaide hospital that was better equipped to deal with the serious nature of his injury.
‘I don’t remember anything. It wasn’t something I would have chosen to do. It is not like I was a big partier, either,’ he recalled.
Orchard (bottom left, pictured at a Wallabies vs England rugby union game) only remembers feeling light-headed before jumping off the fifth-storey balcony
‘It was like the third time I’d taken anything and it turned out to be one of those synthetic drugs that have a bunch of chemicals in them and something just switched in my brain and I went into a psychosis.’
Orchard’s partner Phoebe Grasmeder quit her job in Darwin and relocated to Adelaide to be by his side while he recovered.
He was introduced to tennis during his rehab and discovered a burning desire to succeed in the sport.
Aussie wheelchair tennis king Dylan Alcott (pictured) is one of Orchard’s biggest inspirations
‘During the rehab a guy from tennis came in among other sports and I kind of fell in love with it straight away,’ Orchard told the NT News.
‘It’s something that’s addictive and now I want to prove to everyone I can play the game and do it well.’
Orchard is a big fan of Australian of the Year and wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, who is one of his biggest inspirations.
‘That’s the goal, to play professional tennis and participate in the Paralympics,’ he said.
‘This is something I can really go for and I feel really confident I can do it.’
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