'I haven't seen my family in 16 years': Paralysed Lidl worker Lucky 'so grateful' for friends
Lucky Barquez, who is originally from the Philippines but has been living in Dublin since he was 4, was initially paralysed from the neck down following a bike accident.in Co Wicklow sustaining a spinal injury and traumatic head injury is now walking again having spent six months in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire. Photo: Moya Nolan
A shop worker left paralysed from the neck down after falling off his bike, is flying home to the Philippines today for the first time in 19 years, after learning to walk again.
Lucky Barquez thought his life was over after a horrific crash during a tournament on his mountain bike in the Carrick mountains in Wicklow on September 4, 2022.
The 24 year-old Lidl worker was wheelchair-bound, after suffering a spinal cord injury that left him with no feeling from the neck down.
However, after intensive treatment at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, the young man was discharged last week.
Today, he is making an emotional 24-hour flight home to his parents in the Philippines whom he has not seen in 16 years.
Lucky told the : “I am so nervous, but I am very excited too. I haven’t been home in 19 years and I haven’t seen my family in 16 years. They could not be here during my treatment and they have been so anxious.
“They did not see my journey to get here, but I am walking to them and that was the first thing I hoped for during my treatment. That was my goal.
“I said to myself if I can get through this and learn to move again, I will walk to my family."
Lucky, who is also a professional cyclist, was competing in a race when he fell off his bike on the mountain in a freak accident.
He woke up in St Vincent’s hospital in south Dublin and only remembers the race.
He said: “I don’t remember the fall. I was told I was paralysed from the neck down and there was no prognosis.
“I damaged my C vertebrae that controls my breathing and my limbs, I had to breathe artificially and I had impaired mobility. I could not do anything.
“I decided I’m walking again. I was practically lying to myself, I just kept saying I’ll be ok I worked so hard.
“The things that worried me most was losing my apartment, and my job. If I could not work I faced being evicted. But my friends in Lidl and the mountain bike community raised €20,000 for me."
He said once he knew that his job and home were safe, "I didn’t have anything else to think about".
“I am only a night shift worker in Lidl. I was very much alone, I thought, straight after the accident. But I realised how great my colleagues are and the mountain bike community, they did everything for me.
“I did my physio every day, I have 75% of my movement back. I am not fully recovered."
Lucky said he didn’t tell his parents what happened until two weeks into his treatment.
He said: “Once I could piece everything together I then rang them and told them what happened.
“My father wanted to come, but I told him I will walk up to you, I will arrive in the Philippines on the 23rd. I am from Cagayan De Oro city and I left 19 years ago to come to Ireland with my family but they went back and I stayed here.
“Ireland is home, I just want to see my parents and my brother and two sisters.”
Lucky underwent intensive medical treatment with a multidisciplinary team at the National Rehabilitation Hospital which provides specialist care to patients.
Treatment is available to those who have suffered a recent accident, illness or injury and have acquired a physical or cognitive disability and need rehab.
Last year, 475 patients were discharged from the inpatient services at the NRH while there are currently 14,748 clients attending the outpatient services.
An average length of stay for a patient like Lucky in the Spinal Cord Injury Programme is 90 days – but treatment depends on each person.
Lucky said: “I cannot explain the exceptional level of care I got at the National Rehabilitation Hospital and I was in the new building too. It’s unreal what they can do. I am just so grateful to all of my friends and the medical team who helped me."
