Alexa Leary was going to the cemetery before she was going to the Paralympics, according to her dad Russ.
Three years ago the pair were out on a training ride in Noosa when her front wheel clipped a bike in front of her and she was thrown from her bike at 70kmh.
Russ arrived on the scene to find her unconscious, her ribs, skull, scapula and leg were broken, there was blood everywhere. He didn't recognise her at first.
That night in hospital she had part of her skull removed. Russ and her mother Belinda were told to say goodbye. Over the next 100 days they were told that eight times.
Say goodbye.
Last night they watched from the stands of Paris' La Defense Arena as their 23-year-old daughter set two world records on the way to her first individual gold Paralympic gold medal.
She blitzed the field in the women's S9 100m freestyle final, clocking 59.53sec, after swimming 59.50 earlier in the day.
"It's a miracle that I'm living, and I'm walking and I'm talking," Leary said after her race.
"I was told that I never would three years ago, and I've just come so far.
"I am so impressed with myself. I'm like, 'Lex, look how far you've actually come'.
"It's not sad to talk about, but it's an emotional thing.
"My family is the reason why I'm here, and they're up there [in the stands] looking at me.
"Honestly, it's amazing."
Up in the stands her family and friends reflected on their journey.
"She's the same girl [post-accident], but everything is heightened, but all she ever wanted was to show people that anything is possible," Belinda told Nine.
Russ, wearing a fuzzy green and gold wig, let the emotions run free. You can't imagine how he felt when he came across his daughter on that fateful ride.
"I reckon she wanted that [gold medal] for three years. She wanted it. She got it. Unbelievable," he said.
"We're gonna let go tonight, don't worry about that."
During her recovery, the family consulted a clairvoyant, searching for hope and answers. Russ and Belinda were told she'd rise to become a Paralympic gold medallist.
"It is actually so amazing the fact that when I was in ICU, my dad got a fortune teller," Leary told Nine.
"The fortune teller read that I wanted to go to the Paralympics, and now I'm here, I'm like 'Wow, I did it'."
She might have won gold and set a world record but the highlight of her night was getting a video message from her idol, Australian DJ Paul Fisher. She listens to him non-stop.
If it's possible for her face to light up even more, it did.
"Oh my goodness, that's made my day, that's made my race," Leary said.
Ricky Betar's family watched on from home as their son won bronze in the men's SM14 200m individual medley at his debut Paralympics.
"So many people said, 'He's got a disability, he shouldn't be doing it, he should be doing this, he should be doing that," his father Drew said.
"We copped a lot of shit in his younger years, so to see him now - winning a medal - stuff youse all."
He swam a super final freestyle lap to set a new Oceania record of 2min 8.69sec. After his race Betar was grateful for his family's support.
"I can feel their energy, their yelling all coming towards me," he said.
"So to be able to perform like that, in this pool, I can't complain."
And, at almost twice the age of the youngest swimmer in the race, 35-year-old Grant "Scooter" Patterson came from well behind to clinch bronze in the men's SB2 breaststroke.
Cycling
It was a busy day on the podium for Australians as the individual time trials were run in Clichy-sous-Bois just outside of Paris.
Lauren Parker became Australia's first dual-sport Paralympic medallist in 44 years after winning silver in the women's H1-3 race. She won gold in the triathlon on Monday.
She finished the 14.2km course in 24min 24.90sec, just 9.5sec behind American winner Katerina Brim.
"If only I had the extra nine seconds in me," Parker told Nine.
"I couldn't have done anything more, I put it all out there on the race course.
"I can't believe that I've been able to do that, it's been a goal of mine to do both sports since Tokyo ... I'm very happy with that."
She's not done however, she's got the road race on Friday.
"We're two down and one to go and it's definitely going to be tough, I think all the girls will be feeling it out there ... we'll see what it brings."
Meg Lemon (women's C4) and the "Flying Mullet" Alistair Donohoe (men's C5) both won silver.
Alana Forster (women's C5) and Darren Hicks (men's C2) both won bronze.
Table tennis
Qian Yang bagged her second gold of the Games easily beating Poland's Natalia Partyka in the women's WS10 table tennis final.
Yang, who won the WD20 doubles with Lei Lina earlier in the week, won 11-6, 11-9, 12-10, her powerful forehand giving her many easy points.
Yang's collection of Paralympic medals now stands at eight, after claiming a gold and silver for Australia in Tokyo, and three silver medals and a gold for China before making the switch to represent Australia.
Australia is also guaranteed at least two more medals in table tennis with Lin Ma beating Joshua Stacey of Great Britain 3-0 in the quarter-final to progress to the semi-finals of the men's singles MS9 on Saturday.
Making his first appearance in Paris, Samuel Von Einem accounted for Japan's Takeshi Takemori in three close games to reach the semi-final stage of his class (MS11).
Day 6: 'I could barely walk': The lucky lane that set Canberra star on path to world record
James Turner was pretty happy when he drew lane seven for the men's T36 400m final on Tuesday night.
The Canberra-based athlete was defending gold, having won the event in Tokyo, but here, at the Stade de France, he had something else on his mind.
"When I heard that I got lane seven, I got a bit more confidence [because] every time I'm in lane seven at a major meet I break a world record," Turner said.
There was work to be done around the bend but he powered home to win in 51.54sec.
There was a point in the past few months where Turner thought he'd be lucky to qualify for Paris. A bout of glandular fever in May derailed his training and he struggled with it for a few months.
"I went through phases. I'd have waves of exhaustion, where I could barely walk and I was stumbling around, in a bit of delirium," said Turner, who has cerebral palsy.
"I obviously wasn't able to train and as soon as I'd start training, I'd get worse, so we had to be really careful and come back really slowly.
"I didn't think I'd be able to break a world record here today. I just thought maybe if I do everything right, I can scrape across the line first."
Turner, who first represented Australia with the seven-a-side football team the Pararoos as a 15-year-old, trains in Canberra with legendary Paralympic coach Iryna Dvoskina.
Dvoskina has helped coach athletes such as Heath Francis, Amy Winters, Evan O'Hanlon and Vanessa Low.
Turner is set to compete in the 100m sprint on September 7. Here's hoping he gets allocated lane seven.
The bronze bullet
18-year-old swimmer Alex Saffy is known as the "Bunbury Bullet", now that bullet is bronze, with a third place in the men's S10 100m butterfly.
Saffy teared up on the pool deck talking to reporters.
"It's crazy. I'm very happy right now," Saffy told Nine.
"It's just a lot of emotions, you know, it's been like three years of work leading up to one night.
"I left my hometown in WA south of Perth and moved over to Canberra.
"I didn't know anyone. I'd just turned 16. I left my family and barely get to see them. It was just a lot of sacrifices. And I'm just glad my family's here because I love them a lot."
With his family in the crowd, Safft set and Oceania record of 56.61sec. He pipped Aussie teammate Col Pearse by just .63sec.
"I felt kind of bad beating Col, but I'm happy for him too, we both swam great races."
Saffy was diagnosed with dyskinetic cerebral palsy as a young child but was intent on competing against able-bodied swimmers. His symptoms became more pronounced as he aged, which started resulting in regular disqualifications at swim meets, so he made the switch to multi-class swimming.
In 2022 he relocated to Canberra to train with Martin Roberts at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Watson's warming up
Rachael Watson's just warming up. She won bronze in the women's S3 100m freestyle, the first Australian to win a medal in the event.
"I'm really proud of that swim, we've been working on the 100 for a really long time, to finish that event is really special," she said after the race.
But her main race is the 50m freestyle which she'll swim on Friday. She won gold in that event at Rio and Tokyo, setting Paralympic records both times.
She only took up competitive swimming as part of her rehabilitation when she acquired Guillain Barre Syndrome in her early 20s in 2013. The Queenslander, a triplet, born four months prematurely with mild cerebral palsy, trains with coach Matteo Melis in Brisbane.
'I'm shattered'
Jaryd Clifford said he was "shattered" after he missed a medal by a mere 0.01sec in the men's T13 1500m final.
Just days after he was disqualified in the 5000m, Clifford, who is visually impaired, dived at the line and fell onto the track, but just missed the bronze.
Just 0.52sec separated gold medallist Aleksandr Kostin, a Russian competing for the Neutral Paralympic Athletes, and Clifford in fourth place.
"I'm shattered," Clifford told Nine.
"I feel numb again. It's almost so ridiculous that it's funny. A DQ [disqualification] in the last metre and 0.01. It sucks. It's crazy that it's three years of work and the last metre of both races can define all of that. It's pretty brutal."
Clifford is looking forward to Los Angeles.
"This is why I love representing Australia at the Paralympics. I love this team so much. I remember Kurt Fearnley said, 'when you pull on the singlet, you've got to give more than your best'."
Rollers rolled
The Aussie Rollers will miss a wheelchair basketball medal after being soundly beaten by Great Britain 84-64 in the quarter finals. The Rollers were in the game until three-quarter time, but the Brits put on 28-13 in the last stanza.
Captain Tom O'Neill-Thorne remained positive after the loss.
"We weren't even meant to be here," he said.
"Everyone counted us out at the Asians to be top eight in the world, maybe push for top five, is a great effort.
"GB are world class, they are well drilled and they punish you, to keep them so close for so long, we have to be proud of that."
O'Neill-Thorne said the future is bright for the Rollers.
"Brad Ness has only been in the coaching job for 12 months and we're making some changes and seeing the team grow," he said.
"We had six debutants ... the rest of the world better be on lookout, you'd better hope you win this one because there won't be many more for the next 20 years.
"With players like Jaylen Brown, Eithen Leard, Frank Pinder and Tom McHugh coming through, we have a great future ahead of us."
Her name's Telaya
Remember this name. Telaya Blacksmith. The 16-year-old broke the Australian and Oceania records on her way to her T20 400m final in her debut Paralympics.
The Warlpiri teenager from the Northern Territory finished eighth in the final, fading a little on the home straight.
She'll compete in the long jump on Friday.
After the games she's keen to explore Europe. She's also a member of the Sydney Swans AFLW Academy.
"I'm just a fast, friendly girl from the NT ready to show the world what I've got," she describes herself.
"I represent my family every time I race and know that I am an inspiration for other young Aboriginal kids."
Medal tally
China surges ahead on the medal tally after a massive night in the pool, now with 53 told in its tally of 115 medals.
At the end of day six, Australia's now eighth with nine gold, nine silver, and 14 bronze.
Great Britain is second, ahead of the United States, Brazil, and France.
