Beau Vernon

Beau Vernon's Biography

In 2012 at the age of 23 Beau Vernon’s life changed forever. A passionate sportsman, Beau was left a quadriplegic following a freak accident whilst playing Australian Rules football. Beau was left with no function of his fingers or with any movement from the chest down. During his 8 months of living in hospital and rehabilitation Beau faced many physical and emotional battles. He worked fearlessly to make the most of his limited upper body movement. Beau's resilience and positive attitude was truly tested to get him through those times.

Not one to sit still, Beau has moved forward with his life, using his accident as a tool to strengthen his resilience and to help others. He has since completed a Bachelor of Business, worked at the AFL, got married, had a kid, won a Hand Cycling National Championship, and has returned to the sport he loves, Aussie Rules, as the Senior Head Coach of the Leongatha FC. Beau has led the Leongatha senior side from the bottom end of the ladder to consecutive Grand Finals in his first two years as Coach.

People continuously say, “your story and approach to life is inspiring, you should write a blog and get out there and tell your story”. He listened and started doing motivational speaking and dedicating his life and story to inspire others.

Every single person will face obstacles in their lives and Beau does not see himself as being worse off than anyone else. Beau has increased his knowledge of strategies that can assist in helping people to overcome life’s obstacles. He has learnt a lot about our thoughts and our emotions, about gratitude, about the importance of support, and he has learnt ways to stay optimistic despite what life has dealt him.

Beau has learnt that we are so much more capable than we give ourselves credit for. To think that he can do what he does with essentially only his biceps, shoulder and neck muscles is mind blowing.