When I was 13, I was convinced soccer was the most boring game on the planet. A tedium reserved for the boys like me who didn’t have the guts to shove our mugs in rucks, mauls, and/or scrums, yet strong enough in mettle to endure the “silk shorts brigade” taunts from the chaps with the far manlier polyester rugby union paraphernalia. That all changed one autumn afternoon when Nigel Scozzi entered my world.
The dreary training pitch roared to life thanks to our new coach, the teacher from Wales, fit as a fiddle, sharp as a tack, a face plastered ear to ear with the irrepressible grin reserved for those with the confident swagger to know that no matter what, they’re going to get the best out of you, whether you like it or not. These are the selfless human beings born to teach, destined to inspire. Nigel opened everyone on that team’s eyes to the vast potential a soccer field possesses when eleven individuals and an inflated sphere of synthetic leather work together. And for the several decades that have passed since I was lucky enough to have Mr Scozzi as a teacher and a coach, he’s left exactly this sort of lasting, life-changing, incredibly positive impact on thousands of students, be it in soccer, surf lifesaving or geography.
When not teaching, Nigel’s life has been consumed with a colossal twin love affair for his family, and the ocean. In a twist of fate that makes even the most upbeat of us despair, in March Nigel was surfing at Queenscliff with his son. When riding into shore he was pulled under, fracturing his neck against the sandbar. It’s a miracle he got to shore but once on dry land he received CPR from a man on the beach, also coming to the urgent attention of an ambulance onsite by chance, on a break. Rushed to Royal North Shore’s ICU, Nigel was in an induced coma for two days before spending the next six weeks there, overcoming a collapsed lung and septicaemia.
No matter the challenge, Nigel’s warrior spirit has always shone through. The irony his life should be so changed by an incident like this in the surf is not lost on him, his family or his colleagues either, having watched him spend over 30 years pouring his time and energy into equipping hundreds of young men with lifesaving skills to keep the Northern Beaches safe.
Since coming out of ICU, Nigel has been in Royal North Shore’s spinal ward and now the rehabilitation facility. The spinal cord damage he has sustained is substantial, with limited movement in his arms, paralysis from the chest down, and bruising to the spinal cord which may take years to overcome. While he is working hard on his rehabilitation for the remainder of this year, and as long as it takes, the Scozzi family needs our help now. His colleagues have set up a GoFundMe page. Our goal is to raise $400,000 which will ensure Nigel can return home to a significantly modified house that will accommodate his wheelchair and pay for his ongoing care, medical expenses, occupational and physiotherapy and transport needs.
Every dollar raised will go a huge distance towards helping one of the most generous souls ever to grace this Earth.
To donate visit gofundme.com/f/support-nigel-scozzis-spinal-injury-recovery.