On July 28, in the middle of a match in the first phase of the Olympic Games, Australian center Aron Baynes, 2.08m and 35 years old, had his life changed. The Italy-Australia of the second day of group G was being played at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo and, taking advantage of the gap between the third and the last quarter, Baynes ran to the bathroom to face the outcome of a very even match . He was being one of the outstanding pieces of the team led by Brian W. Goorjian, adding 14 points in 14 minutes. But he didn’t come back; neither to the match, nor to play basketball to date. When the coach asked him to return to the track and the group noticed his absence, a member of the staff He went looking for him and found him lying on the locker room floor, bleeding from two deep wounds on the biceps of one of his arms. There began a real hell for Baynes.
While they began to help him, the doctors tried to explain what had happened. Towel hooks seemed to be the cause of the cuts and the blow to the head from the fall, the source of Baynes’s concussion. But when the player regained consciousness and the idea of going to the bathroom realized that he could not walk, he was rushed to a Japanese hospital. “It was the loneliest moment of my life. Fading in and out of consciousness, reviewing my life and career. Crying like a child. My uncle became a quadriplegic 10 years ago after an accident and, with that experience, the whole family was very scared, ”Baynes explained to ESPN, in reviewing his ordeal. An MRI found that she had internal bleeding that was putting pressure on her spinal cord. Tingling in her legs and paralysis on her left side added to her distress after diagnosis. In addition, the isolation protocols due to covid left Baynes alone in the hospital, unable to communicate fluently with Japanese doctors.
An unknown challenge for an NBA champion. A curriculum forged against the current since in 2009 it was left out of the draft and he had to go to Lithuania to make a career in basketball. From Lietuvos Rytas to the German Bundesliga and, later, Greece and Slovenia as destinations until the final takeoff came. In January 2013 he signed for the San Antonio Spurs and, after going through the D-League team, found a place in the team that won the ring in 2014. Baynes played 53 games that year with Popovich’s team and 70 a year following. Later he went through Detroit, Boston, Phoenix Suns (with whom, in 2019-20, he had his best season: 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds on average), and Toronto, with whom he played 53 games before facing the Tokyo Games with the powerful Australian team led by Patty Mills.
As his teammates made their way to the bronze medal, defeating Doncic’s Slovenia in the match for third place, Baynes faced his own medical battle. Trying to find explanations for the situation, the review focused on the first match of the tournament. That day, at half-time in the match against Nigeria, Baynes suffered a fall while warming up for the second half. His hands slipped on the hoop while making a dunk and he took a bad fall with his head and neck taking the hit. That day he did not play again as a precaution, but there he could begin a torment that he did not stop reviewing in his convalescence. Between the claustrophobia of a tiny room for his large body and the anguish of solitary confinement, Baynes managed to contact an Australian neurosurgeon who prescribed medication and physiotherapy treatment to reduce inflammation and be able to return home. He put it into practice for two weeks with the obsession of being able to handle himself and thus catch the flight from Tokyo to Brisbane to be with his family again.
Ten days after his accident, Baynes watched the medal ceremony from the hospital, in the midst of physiotherapy exercises and treatment that was slowly improving. His medal was the recovery effort award. The hospital allowed him to see the team doctor and athletic trainers for 15 minutes. His colleagues Dellavedova and Sobey posed as doctors to get around security checks. He was finally able to return to Australia on a medicalized plane in which he traveled sedated to endure the 13-hour flight. When he finally got home to Brisbane, he had to spend a mandatory two-week quarantine at a local hospital until he could see family and get his boost in eight-hour-a-day rehab. From the wheelchair to the walker, from there to the small steps to relearn how to walk alone. Months of process until giving himself the gift of shooting a basket again within the strengthening therapy. This week, Baynes attended the game between the Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne United where he watched Dellavedova score 16 points in United’s win. Dozens of children came to ask for photos. “As if nothing had happened,” said Baynes after six months back to life. “I want to play again. I don’t know what the path will be like, but I’m going to give it a great opportunity”, says the Australian center.
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