About this Short Film
On Track (Coralie Tapper, Australia, 2021) explores themes of accident, medical disability, motivation and sport through a young adult lens. Rather than outlining a fixed plot, the film considers how an individual navigates change and the role sporting ambition, including links to the Para-Olympics, can play in forming new goals. Quiet and focused, it gives space to personal experience and the practical realities of recovery and adjustment. A natural fit for the Focus on Ability International Short Film Festival, On Track invites audiences to reflect on strength, determination and the varied ways people with disability pursue purpose and achievement.
Film Details
Film Transcript
So when I first woke up, I don't remember what day it was. I just know I couldn't speak. My first word was "hi" — I think that's what I said to Mum and Dad. I feel like I was trying to grasp air because that was my first breath since the accident. I suppose this was like being a baby, being born and having the first scream. That was my first scream.
If you go back to old Alex: loud, colourful, motivated, fit. I saw life as just — you don't live in the moment. After my car accident, I didn't have the concept. I was badly injured; I hadn't realised my speech had changed, my memory had changed, you know, my physical strength had changed. My accident was so severe I shouldn't even be walking. I was told by doctors I shouldn't be alive. Even though there was a broken neck and a brain injury, there were no signs.
Despite having a disability, I don't want people to see "she's actually got a quiet brain injury." She's not frightened because that's the ceiling attached to it. The more I was told by health professionals, "You may never walk," it was like — no — I'm going to walk, then I'm going to run.
My aim at the moment is to come to the Paralympics eventually, then maybe become the next Australian top athlete. I want to be fit and healthy, and I think if I stop I won't have the chance of being the best. When I have dark moments I have to think: I had a car accident, I survived. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Going to the water, putting my head under, I forget all the noise and all the distractions that's going on with life. There's a reason why I've survived, and I can see why now — it was to tell my story and not to give up and to help others with disability. There are days where I wish I just died, but if I died I would need to experience life.
Filmmaker
Coralie Tapper is the filmmaker behind this entry. See every Focus on Ability entry from Coralie Tapper.
Very inspiring Such a well put together and concise narrative. Visuals and voice over drive this short so passionately.