WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Alex Noble\u2019s journey from quadriplegia to advocacy<\/p>\n
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n Now, seven years later, the 23-year-old is a bestselling author, motivational speaker, university graduate and businessman \u2014 and has just taken on a formal ambassador role with SpinalCure Australia. <\/p>\n Noble was playing for New South Wales Rugby Sevens when he was tackled badly during a training session and landed on his head, immediately losing movement throughout his body. <\/p>\n \u201cI was flat on my back on the floor, paralysed throughout my whole body, unable to move a single thing,\u201d Noble told The Morning Show on Wednesday.<\/p>\n He had broken his C4 vertebra and underwent spinal surgery before spending four days in a coma. <\/p>\n Doctors warned he might never regain movement below his neck. <\/p>\n When Noble woke, his first words to his brother Zach were \u201cif I fight, you fight\u201d \u2014 a pledge that would later inspire a movement reaching hundreds of thousands of people.<\/p>\n He spent nine and a half months in hospital, where he had to relearn how to live. <\/p>\n Since then, Noble has gone from learning to breathe again to standing while wearing a 20kg weighted vest, and even skydiving.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of saw my injury and everything that happened to me not as dirt but more like fertiliser for all of the growth that I did,\u201d Noble said.
<\/p>\n \u201cNow I\u2019m living a life that I never would have dreamed of living and all the things that I\u2019ve accomplished, I never thought that I could ever do that prior to my injury.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows that even when the worst things happen, you can still do great things.\u201d<\/p>\n Noble is now drawing on his experience to encourage others facing adversity and help improve the future for people living with spinal cord injuries.
<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is to show people that even if it\u2019s hard, even if it\u2019s unfair, even if your life may be more challenging than others, you still always have the ability to become someone great, do great things and have an impact on the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In his new ambassador role with SpinalCure Australia<\/a> he will support the organisation\u2019s work raising money for research into treatments and a cure for spinal cord injury.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different research going on, and there are so many advancements lately, and they\u2019re getting very close to a cure,\u201d he said.
<\/p>\n However, Noble said a lack of funding remained the biggest obstacle, with spinal cord injury research receiving less attention than many other conditions.
<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re nearly there. It\u2019s just that last little push and increased funding will get that push,\u201d he said.
<\/p>\n Noble has recently graduated from university with degrees in law and business and is set to become a lawyer in two months in addition to his role as ambassador.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Celebrity chef reveals loneliness struggles: \u2018It\u2019s not glamorous\u2019<\/p>\n 2 min read<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n World-first battery breakthrough aims to protect children<\/p>\n 2 min read<\/p>\n <\/a>![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8cef5440d159ff334ec622463cffa0cd343ff8db.png\")
Alex Noble was just 16 when a devastating training accident left him with a severe spinal cord injury and C4 quadriplegia. Credit: The Morning Show<\/p>\n