Double amputee was told he would never walk again

By Paul Gueorgieff

Ben Tullipan clearly remembers the first golf tournament he played.

Above: Ben Tullipan from the Gold Coast. He played in the Disability Golf New Zealand Open at Manor Park Golf Club in Wellington.

He scored an ugly 138. But he was not in the least disappointed.

``I came dead last but I had an absolute ball,'' Tullipan recalled at the Disability Golf New Zealand Open at the Manor Park Golf Club in Wellington last month.

The tournament was a Victorian event for amputees but at the same time represented a turning point in Tullipan's life.

He previously didn't have a set of clubs but following a newspaper story the clubs were provided along with a golf cart for Tullipan to drive.

``The social side of disabled golf is fantastic,'' Tullipan added.

``That's what I went there for and I met some amazing people.''

Tullipan lost both his legs in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

He was in Bali to purchase product for his furniture and homeware business and had entered a club to obtain a bottle of water.

``As I was walking out a bomb went off,'' Tullipan recalled.

``I was five metres away from a van which had 400 kilos of explosives in it.''

Tullipan didn't shy away from the gruesome details.

``I remember the whole lot. I had a torso next to me with no head, no arms. It was pretty graphic stuff which no person should ever see.

``I tried to drag myself out of the club which didn't really work.

``I ended up getting dragged out and put on the road next to a car. The car caught on fire and burned all my back.

``I was then dragged up the street a little bit more, wrapped up and put on the back of a ute to Senglah Hospital.

``Apparently, I was pushed aside into a room and they covered me over and into the morgue room. They thought I was dead.

``Someone saw my arm twitch and dragged me out and here I am today.''

Tullipan said the message from doctors was blunt.

``I was told by doctors I would never walk. You've lost both your legs, you've got no stomach muscles on your right side, you're deaf in one ear, all your balance is gone, you'll never walk.''

He didn't like what he heard.

``I thought who the hell are you to tell me I'll never walk again?''

Years later he thought about playing golf even though he had not played the game before.

``After about four years I gave my wheelchair away to make sure I would never use it again and someone said to me you will never be able to swing a golf club -- you'll fall over.''

The Gold Coaster is now heavily into golf. He became the president of Queensland Amputee Golf and has since become involved with an organisation named Empower Golf Australia.

Empower Golf provides clinics, coaching and equipment for disabled golfers and Tullipan said it employed 74 professional coaches throughout Australia for 15,000 clients.

``Now I encourage others to get out and play.’'

Click on the following link to view a video of Tullipan in action at Manor Park.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1a553Z6vvWkuvNi3A