Highlighting the Inaccessibility of Australian Beaches – featuring Advocacy WA’s CEO
Jaimen Hudson made his family's worst fears disappear with a wave of his arms.
The 33-year-old had just emerged from the hospital elevator to greet his nervous loved ones after a gruelling six-hour surgery.
But the gesture sparked immediate relief.
"They were all very relieved to see I could still move my arms," Mr Hudson said.
"Our worst fears hadn't come true."
Mr Hudson has been quadriplegic since breaking his neck in a motorbike crash 16 years ago.
He retained partial use of his arms, which helped him build a beautiful life in Esperance, on Western Australia's south coast.
But last month, that hung in the balance after he did the unthinkable and broke his neck a second time.
Not only was it horrible to relive the trauma of the first accident, it put his remaining mobility at risk.
"I've lost so much mobility from my first accident," he said.
"I don't think I could have coped it I'd gone backwards."
But, after he woke from a six-hour spinal surgery there came a moment of huge relief.
"I moved my arms," he said.
"And then I felt my neck and I knew I was breathing independently.
"And then the nurse and I just started crying."
Meanwhile, his family was anxiously waiting.
"I can't even describe the agony we were all in, just waiting and looking at the clock," his wife Jess Hudson said.
But at last, he arrived, greeting them all with a simple, mobility-affirming wave.
"It was a nice moment," he said.
A beach trip gone wrong
Mr Hudson is known for his drone footage of frolicking dolphins and breaching whales, which have been used in documentaries and shared on social media all over the world.
But getting onto those beaches he helped make so popular is difficult.
A short beach in town has a ramp and a beach wheelchair, but it is often covered in weed and difficult for wheelchair users to access.
Mr Hudson's only other option, close to town, is a poorly maintained emergency access track to West Beach.
That is the path he took on Easter Monday.
But the four-wheel-drive chair hit a boggy patch of gravel and flipped, jamming Mr Hudson's head into the ground.
He never even considered he had broken his neck until it was confirmed by a CT scan in hospital that night.
"[I said] I just can't believe I've done this to myself again," he said.
"Breaking your neck once is like getting struck by lightning and then to do it twice is out of this world."
Having spent six months in hospital the last time, he was determined to get on the road to recovery as quickly as possible.
But it was tough – particularly the three days he spent in traction to correct his spine before surgery.
Yet after coming through the surgery and retaining his function, he hopes the horrific ordeal could have a silver lining.
Poor track record on beach access
Esperance is far from the only area where beach access is limited.
Accessible Beaches Australia said only 165 of Australia's 12,000-odd beaches had some form of access for people with disabilities.
This includes having beach matting to the water's edge, beach wheelchairs, accessible nearby parking and accessible bathrooms.
But even some of the beaches described as accessible fail to meet everyone's needs.
Stuart Schonell, who uses a wheelchair and is the CEO of Advocacy WA, said he would not visit Bunbury's accessible Koombana Beach.
"For people who like to swim and snorkel and scuba dive, like me, this is not an accessible beach," he said.
Instead, he goes to boat ramps, where he can roll into the water, throw away the chair and go for a swim.
He conceded it was less than ideal, given boats could pose a hazard, but it was the best way he could enjoy the water independently.
"You take advantage of what's there," he said.
"[But] I've actually fallen out of my wheelchair quite a number of times, trying to access different tracks and to go and see things that everyone else can see."
He believed state and local governments could do a lot more to help.
West Australian local governments are required to have disability access and inclusion plans, and are advised to have reference groups to consult on them.
While the state government is currently working to reform the Disability Services Act, the effectiveness of the current arrangements have been repeatedly questioned.
Disability Services Minister Don Punch said the government was committed to making the state more inclusive to people with disabilities.
Working together
Mr Hudson wants to work with the local shire to make changes in his home town.
"[This] is about me trying to work alongside the Esperance Shire to improve the access," he said.
"And use this as a bit of a kick up the butt for all of us to try and make some improvements."
The Esperance Shire said it aimed to put a ramp at Twilight Beach, one of the region's most iconic, by summer.
But it said the West Beach track was too steep to seal and make available to wheelchair users.
Mr Hudson said it could be incorporated into the coastal footpath network, which already included many steep, sealed sections.
"Then it can be perceived as being suitable for disability access for wheelchairs," Shire President Ron Chambers said.
"And again, it doesn't meet the requirements then to be compliant for that purpose."
Mr Hudson hopes to see more of these conversations playing out across the country as the nation grapples with how to make its favourite outdoor areas more inclusive.
