Rand farmer Corey Hogan, with his mother Shelley, is happy to be back home on the family property after almost eight months in hospital recovering from serious spinal injuries. Picture by James Wiltshire.

13 November 2024

Words by Beau Greenway, The Border Mail

A farmer who was left with quadriplegia after suffering a severe injury in Albury has returned to his family home after almost eight months in hospital.

Life won't be the same for Rand's Corey Hogan, but he's not dwelling on the past.

In February, the 23-year-old suffered serious spinal injuries while with friends on David Street after a 21st birthday celebration.

"I think back a little bit every now and then, but it's all done and dusted. I can't do much about it now," he said.

"The best thing was it was no one else's fault but mine. I'd hate to blame someone else for it, it would be pretty tough on them as well.

"You're not going to get better if you're sooking about the past. You've got to get over it and get on with it."

Corey spent a month in intensive care at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, followed by eight weeks at Austin Health's Victorian Spinal Cord Service.

For the next almost five months, he was at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Kew.

Corey has undergone multiple nerve and tendon transfers, where surgeons took functioning tendons from his body and reattached them elsewhere to restore function.

"I can straighten my left arm out, but my right tricep doesn't work against gravity," he said,

"They've taken tendons out of my legs and put them in my wrist and my triceps and wired them up to make them work. They took nerves out of each elbow and put them in my hands to give me better grip.

"I've noticed improvement with the tendons straight away, but nerves take about 12 or 15 months until you see the result.

"There was a peer support worker down there, and he lives in Daylesford, but he said he wouldn't be able to drive if he didn't have that surgery done after his injury."

Corey's mother, Shelley, was by his side throughout the journey, having briefly returned home to the family farm in Rand "four or five times" in eight months.

"I was really lucky that my brother-in-law had a unit down there, and I stayed there," she said.

"My daughters [Abbey and Bree] came down from time to time, and [my husband] Matt got a chance to come down, and there was room for us all.

"It's been so good to have him home.

"He's come a long way from the first night. He's worked really hard."

Mrs Hogan said Corey's sisters "really stepped up" when he was away from home.

"Abbey works at Oaklands for Graincorp, and Bree is still at school. Bree was really good because she had to be here the whole time and try to go to school while Matt was working," she said.

"Abbey was living in Mackay in Queensland when the accident happened, and she moved back. We told her to stay, but she said she was coming home until she knew Corey was right.

"The girls are very determined, and it was nice to have the support from them. They would come down as much as they could between school and work.

"My work Rivalea has been really supportive and told me to take as much time as I needed. I couldn't have asked for any more from those guys."

Mrs Hogan said the family couldn't have got through it all without the enormous support of the community.

"The support has really blown us away. It's made our journey easier," Mrs Hogan said.

"People have been pitching in and watering, doing something in the garden or feeding the dogs. They're just little things, but they go a long way."

Mrs Hogan said fellow spinal patients became "one big family" as Corey went through his rehabilitation.

"We had a young boy from Tassie named Jake, who was only 19, wheel in and introduce himself as soon as we got there," she said.

"We gathered in the dining room at meal times, and all supported each other. It was great. If somebody wasn't there one day, we'd pitch in and help."

Corey, who has a windrowing business to cut, separate, and create rows of hay or small grain crops, said while he still had plenty of challenges ahead, he remained in good spirits.

He has plenty of well-worn tracks across the property on his trusty electric wheelchair.

"It's been great to be home. I've been very lucky with all of my carers, they've made it easy for me to adjust to life back home," he said.

"It's been good keeping busy and taking your mind off things.

"I haven't got stuck yet. It's easier to navigate around here than being in the city.

"The battery is my only limiting factor. I ran it out of battery once and had to get my sister to come and get me from the paddock."

Corey is the face of Austin Health's 2024 Christmas appeal, which raises funds for the spinal ward where he was treated.

The appeal aims to create a new patient lounge and outdoor retreat to enhance recovery and overall wellbeing.

"I thought it was worth doing to help make the spinal ward a bit better environment for people," Corey said.

"You see patients in the spinal unit and the rehab, and they don't have anyone to come and see them at all, so if doing this can help someone else, that's pretty important.

Mrs Hogan added: "If it makes it easier for the next patient and their family, it's worth it."

"Unfortunately, there's still going to be people passing through there, not that you want it, but it's reality."

Corey will return to Melbourne early in 2025 for further tendon surgery on his right tricep and will attend weekly physiotherapy sessions in Corowa.

Austin Health's Christmas appeal started on October 21 and will run through to Christmas Day.

To support the cause, visit austin.org.au/donate.