Rugby Star to University Student

St John's College, Sydney University Newsletter

Lining up his pressure penalty shot from just inside the 10 metre line, in the intense silence of a packed stadium sensing victory, 17 year old full back Ben Kende kept his cool. “Head down and straight through,” he told himself, before acing his second penalty of the night to secure the First Division 2009 – 2010 Grand Championship for CBRE Hong Kong Football Club.

Ben was an 18 year old rising star in Hong Kong. That was until a match in Bangkok that would change his life forever. Playing for the Hong Kong Under 20’s team in the Asian Junior Championship in Bangkok in August 2010, a seemingly harmless tackle resulted in Ben receiving a severe neck injury that left him tetraplegic, with limited use of his arms and hands and no use of his legs.

He spent the next three months recovering from multiple drug resistant pneumonia in Bangkok then Hong Kong where he was born to be with his parents and two sisters. He finally moved to an Australian rehabilitation centre in Sydney for the rest of the year.

Ben had had a job for one week as a junior personal trainer before his injury and had been saving up for a gap year back packing around South America with his mates. As testament to their friendships, they cancelled their trip and saved up to fly down to Sydney and visit him in his rehab hospital.

He doesn’t regret playing rugby for a moment. He is really happy to be at Sydney University studying commerce and living at St Johns – this had always been his dream. He has met a lot of great people at John’s.