The 16-year-old is in the Tennis Australia National Development Team For Autism

“I’ve played tennis since I was two,” he said. “I always had a connection with it.”

However, earlier this year, on his first day as a Year 12 student, the unthinkable happened. Kale suffered shocking injuries during a school sports activity and was admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital for urgent care.

Dr Michael B. Johnson, head of orthopaedics at the RCH, said Kale presented to hospital with an “evolving spinal cord injury”, adding:

“The pressure on the spinal cord got progressively worse.”

Kale was paralysed from the waist down.

Dr Johnson, and teams at the RCH, performed two major surgeries; the first operation was in a tricky spot on Kale’s spine.

“It wasn’t easily accessible,” Dr Johnson said. “You’ve got lots of things in the way, including vessels of the big aorta and major vessels to the neck.”

So, with the assistance of cardiac surgeons, the team went in, split Kale’s sternum, and approached the spine from the front.

“We removed the damaged vertebrae … so it took pressure off the spinal cord,” Dr Johnson said.

The second operation involved inserting rods and screws to stabilise Kale’s spine. So far, Kale has been at the RCH for 12 weeks for treatment, rehabilitation and recovery.

He is progressing well. Kale said a “sports mentality” kept him motivated.

“I keep telling myself: ‘This isn’t going to be forever. I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to play tennis again’,” he said.

“Keeping a strong mindset, and having a goal – which is to get home – helps me push through.”

Dr Johnson said: “Kale was scared by this experience, as you would well understand. But I am very confident we’ll see him walking again for sure. We will support him as much as we can”.

Kale, a young Gunaikurnai man, said he was grateful to RCH clinicians and therapists, and also the hospital’s Wadja health clinic for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The clinic provides medical, social, cultural and emotional assessment. An Aboriginal family health worker also provides support. Wadja clinic manager Selena White said the team aimed to build “deeper
trust, connection, and understanding with our patients and families”.

“It’s a safe space,” Kale said. “It helped me fit in.”