Podcast extra: Sam Bloom

Podcast extra: Sam Bloom

Experience the emotional and inspiring tales of recovery as All In The Mind shares the full conversation between Lynne Malcolm and surfer-turned-paraplegic world champion, Sam Bloom. A family holiday in Thailand turned tragic when a rotten balcony railing collapsed, sending Sam six metres to the ground and leaving her with a spinal cord injury at T6, a fractured skull and serious internal injuries.

Sam talks candidly about waking up in hospital, the shock of being told she would never walk again, and the long months of hospital and rehab. She describes the moment reality hit when she first transferred into a wheelchair and later when she returned home, staring out at her favourite surf break and feeling, as she says, “pretty much… under house arrest”. Hope arrived in an unexpected form: a baby magpie her family named Penguin.

Caring for Penguin gave Sam companionship and a reason to get through lonely days at home. “She brought a bit of happiness into our lives because I felt like all I'd brought was just sadness,” Sam says. From there, the conversation follows her gradual return to sport. First came kayaking, pushed along by a rehab sports officer who recognised how active she’d been before the accident.

Years later she made it back onto a surfboard, lying prone and using a handle to ride waves, eventually becoming a two-time para-surfing world champion. Sam also talks about her advocacy as an ambassador for SpinalCure Australia and the hope she holds for a future cure, particularly for younger people with spinal cord injuries.

She reflects on the surreal experience of seeing Naomi Watts play her in the film "Penguin Bloom", and the care taken to portray life in a wheelchair honestly. Anyone interested in resilience, family, disability, and mental strength will find Sam’s story both tough and uplifting, leaving you asking what courage might look like in your own life.