Inspirational referee beats brain injury to return to officiating

Brisbane referee Josh Ditchmen has defied the odds to mark a successful return to officiating, reflecting on the obstacles he has cleared nearly 12 months on from an acquired brain injury.

Josh suffered the traumatic injury following a buggy rollover on a rural property on October 1, and was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital, where he was given a best case three per cent chance of survival.

Family and friends were told to say goodbye, but Josh made a miraculous recovery, so much so he was out of ICU within four days and home before Christmas, still determined to officiate again.

Having previously been involved in the Brisbane Rugby League Referees’ Association’s high performance unit and a regular on senior men’s touchlines, it was a sense of normality he needed, but it didn’t come easy.

After the accident, Josh had partial paralysis on the left side of his body, while he also struggled with double vision.

While he went through rehabilitation, BRLRA members were making sure his rugby league mind was ticking over and he received countless messages of support from his junior club Carina all the way to NRL referees such as Liam Kennedy, Grant Atkins, Todd Smith, Gerard Sutton and Chris Butler.

Remarkably, he was back on the sideline in time for trial matches in April, receiving great support particularly from BRLRA development manager Nick Kalpakidis.

Almost a year on, Josh said he was still getting used to his “new 100 per cent”, grateful for everyone who had contributed getting him this far to keep him connected to the game he loves.

“It has been hard, but what’s happened is what’s happened, there’s no point being sad or down about it, you just make use of what it is,” he said.

“I’ll never be 100 per cent, but it’s a new 100 per cent. It’s been tough, but I guess I’m just doing whatever I can to move forward.

“(The support) has been really good, fantastic.

“A few of the BRL refs offered to help me, sit down and go through scenarios and make sure I still had a good understanding of the game and it wasn’t all lost.

“There were training sessions where they would be helping me and supporting me physically with all the running and everything part of refereeing, and helped wherever they thought I needed it.”

After feeling the effects of the double vision during his recovery, Josh was recently inspired to fundraise for the Fred Hollows Foundation, setting a target of running 50km in August – which he easily eclipsed – and raising more than $2600.

BRLRA development manager Nick Kalpakidis, also Josh’s maths teacher at Mansfield State High School, was blown away at his “unwavering determination, resilience and mental toughness to overcome setbacks and officiate again”, inspiring others to “live for now”.

“It’s totally unreal. I visited him and day two in hospital, and it was disturbing and we never thought he’d come out of it, but remarkably with his great resilience he’s come back and been training hard and working hard,” he said.

The hard work has extended to his final year of schooling, which he’s passing with flying colours.

“Early on was a bit of a struggle… but as the year progressed he caught on quickly and has done the extra work to catch up… and he’s achieving really well in maths and all his subjects, giving 110 per cent and going to easily graduate,” Kalpakidis said.

Josh hopes to use his story on a career path in which he can motivate others to overcome their obstacles, while working on his physical and mental capacity to “for the middle, referee (junior) International games, and for the line, to be in A grade”.

“No matter what you’re going through, it’s going to be all right, just keep going and moving forward,” he said.