Five days before he was to contest his first Ironman triathlon, Bill Chaffey was hit from behind by a truck while cycling, leaving him paralysed from the hips down.
Now he's 365 days out from a cherished goal of representing Australia at the Rio Paralympics, with the chance to win the inaugural para-triathlon gold medal.
The Gold Coast father of two has won four para-triathlon world championship titles since the 2005 accident that changed his life.
"You've just got to move on and that's the attitude I've had," Chaffey told AAP.
"I could lay back and worry about that but I never have."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
He aims to be among some 170 Australian athletes competing across 17 sports at the first Paralympics to be held in South America.
The Rio Games, which begin September 7 next year, will include para-triathlon for the first time.
Chaffey leads the men's wheelchair category as the most successful veteran and he won the Rio Paralympic test event in August.
The 39-year-old is also the favourite to take out the Chicago ITU world championships this month, which would automatically qualify him for Rio.
But Chaffey expected stiff competition from competitors from England, Holland and the US and he has been training up to 25 hours a week to secure his spot.
"It would mean absolutely everything to me now," he said.
The cop from Bilambil Heights never expected to get this far, first competing in his local area to regain his fitness following the accident.
After spending five months recovering in hospital, Chaffey reached out to Paralympic great John Maclean, who made history as the first wheelchair athlete to finish the famed Hawaii Ironman triathlon.
"There were stories of him in triathlon magazines which I used to buy all the time," Chaffey said.
"That was why after my accident I knew I could get back into triathlon... because I knew he had, I knew I could."
Paralysed in a similar accident, Maclean gave Chaffey the motivation he needed to compete again.
"That was the turning point I suppose," he said.
Australia's chef de mission Kate McLoughlin said Chaffey and his teammate Katie Kelly, whose guide will be Sydney 2000 Olympic silver medallist Michellie Jones, were excellent gold medal chances for Australia.
And McLoughlin expects returned Afghanistan serviceman Curtis McGrath to dominate the para-canoe, which will also debut on the Paralympic program.
"We have these new sports coming on board and they're not just testing the water, they're going to go in there and fingers crossed they'll take the world by storm in the first opportunity," McLoughlin said.
McLoughlin and the Australian Paralympic Committee believe a top-five finish on the medal table is achievable in Rio.
"We have decent chances of medalling in 13 out of 17 sports that we are hoping to send," she said.
"Within that there's a fair few gold medal opportunities."
The Australian team has placed in the top five at every Games since Barcelona in 1992.
However other countries have substantially more funding and Australia was only a few medals short of slipping outside the top five at the 2012 London Games.
"Competition from the top 10 countries will be close but I'm really confident we can get up there," McLoughlin said.
She said the APC was tracking to meet fundraising and sponsorship targets to cover its $7 million budget for the Rio Games.
"We have about $2 million to go. It's still a fair way and we rely so heavily on public support," McLoughlin said.
