Alexa Leary has opened up about the harsh reality of the brain injury she suffered in a cycling accident, revealing she physically attacked her parents as they helped guide her through her recovery.
The Paralympics gold medallist was able to leave her hospital bed 111 days after her horror crash and even managed to win two gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, as well as three world championship titles.
But despite that incredible feat, her time at home in the aftermath of the terrifying ordeal saw her struggle with emotional regulation.
Leary would often physically strike her mother and father as the brain injury left her struggling to control her actions.
The 24-year-old and her family have now lifted the lid on the nightmare they all had to face in a new documentary.
‘I would hit them, I would scratch them. I’d yell, scream. I couldn’t control my anger,’ Leary told News Corp.
Alexa Leary (pictured after winning gold at the 2024 Paralympics) endured a nightmare period in the aftermath of the horror accident that left her with a serious brain injury
Alexa has opened up about physically attacking her parents Belinda and Russell (pictured)
The Paralympian has revealed she would have mental health episodes during which she would completely lose control.
‘I don’t remember much. Mum and Dad said they were going to take me to a home [mental health facility] because I was so aggressive,’ Leary said.
The situation had a significant impact on her extended family as well.
‘When she got home, she became physical. Because she became angry, and with a TBI (traumatic brain injury), she can’t control that,’ Alexa’s father Russell said.
‘I would have black eyes. I would have blood everywhere.’
The Paralympic champion’s mother Belinda has said her daughter struggled to cope with her new reality.
‘Almost overnight, she’d turn into this angry person that wanted to belt us,’ Belinda said.
‘The realisation of no hair, no driver’s licence, I’m not an athlete anymore, just hit her so hard.’
Leary’s cycling accident saw her forced to stay in hospital for 111 days
The 25-year-old (pictured) has since changed her life and become one of the most inspiring faces of Aussie sport
‘She got so angry, and she would lash out. Russ and I copped everything.’
Controversial brain surgeon Charlie Teo has been credited with helping Alexa turn her life around since the accident, and he also noticed the change in her behaviour.
‘There’s something very extreme about her, so disinhibited and so raw,’ Teo told News Corp.
‘She’d say things that maybe we all think but aren’t prepared to say, do things we would all like to do but are not prepared to do.’
Russell credits Teo’s treatments with helping restore his daughter’s short-term memory, which was destroyed by the crash.
He said Alexa would scream at him and Belinda as she regularly lost things.
‘We’ve seen a major change in her,’ Russell said.
‘She would [yell at us] before, but then she would never say sorry. She now says sorry.
‘Her whole life is changing, and we’re feeling and seeing that in her now.’
‘We can see that she’s kind of navigating her way out of that darkness,’ Belinda added.
‘It’s really enlightening to see how she’s becoming more of the person that she always wanted to be.’
