Jonathan Beninca was a typical teenager, just like you. And, just like you, Jonathan thought he was invincible. When he was 19, Jonathan was out one night drinking with some friends and missed his last train home.
He then decided to trespass and walk home along the train tracks in Sydney’s south.
This decision changed Jonathan’s life forever.
The next thing he remembers is waking up in hospital, minus his right arm and a leg, as well as some fingers on his left hand. He found out that one of the rocks he threw at the train had rebounded with enough force to crack his skull and knock him out cold on the tracks, where the first train of the morning found him.
After first seeing his injuries he cried every night for 18 months. Learning to walk again with a prosthetic and dealing with the impact his injuries had on his life and on those around him were all part of his rehabilitation. Simple tasks like opening a jar, tying up shoelaces and learning how to get dressed sometimes seemed too much to handle.
Jonathan has now been living with his injuries for 16 years and still finds that some people will call him an idiot or stupid and some people even say he got what he deserved. But Jonathan has never shied away from taking responsibility for the decisions he made that night. He will be the first to say that life can change in an instant, that all it takes is one bad decision to change your life forever.
Jonathan will be in Perth for the next two weeks sharing his story with young people to try and prevent risk-taking around the public transport network.