This story was published in Woman’s Day in November 2016
John Kennerley, husband of Australian TV icon Kerri-Anne Kennerley, was left paralysed after fracturing his neck in a freak accident in March 2016.
Kerri-Anne explained how the devastating turn of events has taken its toll on her.
“I have my husband, we’re just different now.
“A whole chunk of me doesn’t exist anymore.”
Her 76-year-old husband broke his C2 and C3 vertebrae in a fall at a golf resort in NSW and was paralysed.
Kerri-Anne was so grateful to the hospital staff who helped John after the accident.
Kerri-Anne longs for her life before the terrible accident.
The pair celebrated their anniversary while John was still recovering in hospital.
John, a former British soccer pools executive who established NSW Lotto, explained to Woman’s Day: “It wasn’t a particularly big fall, it was only about 800mm, but I just landed on my head and neck,” he said. “There was a crack.”
John shared what he could recall about the tragic event.
“I remember coming to… I couldn’t move anything,” he revealed.
“I couldn’t move my arms, I couldn’t move my legs.”
John says Kerri-Anne has remained constantly by his side.
He continued: “And Kerri was with me within a second and I remember saying to her ‘I think I’m paralysed, I can’t move.’ Soon after that, I fainted.”
John says he wouldn’t have been able to recover as well as he has without the enduring love and support of his wife of 32 years.
“She was there when I woke up and she’s been there with me every day, every single day,” he said.
He added: “I have appreciated it… She’s never faltered. Never faltered.”
See Kerri-Anne’s emotional message to those who have supported the couple in the video below.
