Ten years ago, Enrico Quilico was in a motorcycle crash that left him in a coma and had doctors believing he would never walk again.
The 33-year-old Montreal man has since competed in more than a dozen triathlons and is training for his first Ironman competition in Lake Placid, NY at the end of the month. However, it wasn’t an easy road.
“I took the impact on my elbow, I broke several ribs and I fractured my pelvis,” said Quilico. “Then I skidded on the highway for about 60 feet and hit the back of the car with my head.”
It took more than two years after his accident for his physical wounds to heal, but he began suffering from depression due to his brain injury. He found that exercise and sports helped ease the depression and his physical rehabilitation, leading him to compete in triathlons.
“To be able to do some of the things that I do… I feel fortunate all the time,” said Quilico.
According to Quilico, he had to learn how to pronounce and voice words again, how to speak, how to keep his balance, how to walk up the stairs and how to tie his shoes. He now works with intellectually disabled adults and is always looking for more ways to help those with brain injuries.
“He does give brain injury survivors hope that there is a life after brain injury,” said Barbara Butler, the co-president of Brain Injury Canada.
Quilico has competed in several half Ironman competitions, but this will be his first full competition that will see him swim 3.8 kilometres, bike 180 kilometres and run 42 kilometres.
He plans to raise $10,000 for Brain Injury Canada through his GoFundMe page, which has already raised more than $7,000.
With a report from CTV’s Kevin Gallagher
