The UNIQLO Interview: David Hall
Whoever wrote the blurb to accompany the autobiography of Australia’s David Hall – a genuine superstar of wheelchair tennis – has absolutely smashed it. It is so impressive, it is worth revisiting here.
A panther has stalked me, I crowd-surfed in a wheelchair, jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and won a gold medal.
I hit tennis balls with royalty, won eight US Opens and been face-to-face with Hollywood starlets.
I received the Paralympic flame from the Prime Minister, finished the year as world No. 1 six times and appeared on a postage stamp with great hair. I was also inducted into the biggest Hall of Fame tennis has to offer.
These are things I never could have imagined as a sixteen-year-old when the surgeon walked into that hospital room and said, ‘unfortunately we’re going to have to amputate'.
If that does not make you order Hall’s book Superbeast perhaps nothing will, but this UNIQLO Interview is going to delve a little further and dive right in.
In 1986, Hall was hit by a car while hitchhiking and from that moment his life was never the same again. He spent four months in hospital during which time both of his legs were amputated to save his life – one within two weeks of the accident and the other two months after.
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Sometimes this part of the story is only touched upon due to concerns over asking difficult questions, especially when there are happier times to come and the protagonist has achieved as much as Hall.
However, it is important for people facing similar circumstances to understand that those who have gone on to succeed in their chosen fields are still human and susceptible to the same fears and emotions.
“When the surgeon came in and told me they needed to amputate, it did not seem real – but it was,” said Hall. “Nothing could prepare me for it but, in a way, I was relieved. The leg was giving me hell and the pain pushed me to the edge.
“Emotionally, I was still defiant. I woke up in the recovery room after the amputation, looked down at my missing leg but did not cry. The crying would come days later when my best friend came to visit. That is when the floodgates opened.
“I remember thinking, ‘what girl wants to date me, how will my friends see me now?’. Every thought was just colliding into each other.”
After a long period of rehabilitation and while he was working as a clerk at a police station, Hall was inspired by a photograph of a wheelchair tennis player. Much of what Hall has gone on to accomplish – and that is plenty – can be traced to that moment.
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Hall is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, won major titles including the Australian Open and US Open on numerous occasions and is a six-time Paralympic medallist, winning gold in Sydney – the city of his birth – in 2000.
He also helped Australia win the World Team Cup on four occasions and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, but it is still not that easy to escape the past.
“Call it luck, divine intervention or doctors having a good day, but I died twice after being hit by the car and that’s hard to wrap your head around,” added Hall.
“I knew I had a story to tell and, by writing the book, you dig into things you haven’t thought about for years. I realised how much I struggled, especially the transition back into society after being discharged from hospital.
“I slowly moved away from 'why me' and over time I gradually hit acceptance. Still being a teenager, I had a lot of hutzpah, and I think that helped even though there was some anger over what had happened to me. Slowly that evaporated.
“Actually, the toughest parts to write were the break-ups from relationships, not the night of the accident. I think reliving all the pain of those just brought back all the memories. Writing about the moments and the dialogue associated with those was tough.
“In terms of tennis, I enjoyed watching old video tapes of the wins and hated watching the losses. Either way, they were emotional, especially the gold medal match from the Sydney Paralympics and seeing my parents celebrate.”
There is so much to consider when it comes to Hall and his esteemed wheelchair tennis career which spanned nearly two decades, and exploring every nook and cranny would see this article run into tens of thousands of words.
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In short, the answer is to buy the book, but some stories do need telling and there is understandable intrigue around the panther tale.
“That was crazy,” said Hall. “I was with my girlfriend for a lazy Sunday picnic in the mountains. When we left it was late afternoon and we got lost in the mountains trying to follow a map. We were driving on dirt roads and came to a big dip in the road.
“My ego got in the way and I decided to drive down it. Unfortunately, the road dropped off like a cliff. We turned the car around and I attempted to drive up, but the wheels were spinning. Now we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere.
“I had to go for help, so I pushed my wheelchair up the steep dirt road. After about an hour of pushing I heard a noise in the bush, turned around and a panther was staring right at me.
“People didn’t believe me for years. Then I heard a story that during World War II the US Army had a base here in Australia and brought over big game cats as mascots. After the war, instead of taking them home they were apparently released into the bush.”
It is indeed quite a story and one of many which Hall, who has been retired from wheelchair tennis for 20 years, can call upon during his new career as a motivational speaker.
The 55-year-old also enjoys driving his classic Mustang and visiting his nation’s wine country. When he does afford himself a tipple, he has every reason to look back and toast a wonderful on-court career – and multiple successes off it.
Cheers to that!