Aussie swimming star battled psychosis after car crash at age five left lifelong health problems

Paralympic swimmer Paige Leonhardt has revealed her terrifying battle with psychosis after recent surgery, describing the experience as something she is “so scared to experience again” in a candid Instagram post.

The 25-year-old three-time Paralympian broke her silence on social media, explaining why she had been quiet for a while: “life changed in ways I never expected.” In her post, she wrote: “I experienced my first psychosis post my recent surgery, and since then I’ve been trying to find my footing again.”

Psychosis is a severe mental health condition in which a person loses touch with reality, often experiencing hallucinations or delusions. For Leonhardt, the episode was profoundly destabilising. She described the aftermath as “traumatised and stressed,” adding that one of the hardest parts of recovery has been adjusting to weight gain caused by medication. “I don’t feel like myself and it’s scary and upsetting,” she said. “I’m learning that healing sometimes means surviving first, understanding later.”

In a follow-up Instagram story, she said: “Psychosis is real and it can happen to anyone. I got through something so traumatic and terrifying but my road to recovery hasn’t been easy. But I’m willing to do the work to get back to feeling like me.” She also promised to share more details about her symptoms “when the time is right.”

A life shaped by trauma

Leonhardt’s latest health struggle is set against a backdrop of lifelong medical challenges that began when she was five years old. She was thrown from a vehicle in a severe car accident, sparking a four-year recovery that involved spinal taps, MRIs and multiple brain surgeries to remove fluid. The crash also caused haemorrhages behind her eyes and led to the development of drusen — yellow deposits under the retinas that can cause future vision loss.

The accident left her with lasting conditions including hemiplegia on her right side, intracranial hypertension (which requires regular procedures to drain excess fluid from her brain), epilepsy and autism. Despite these profound disabilities, she took up swimming at the age of 12 as part of her rehabilitation and quickly excelled, winning seven gold and four silver medals at the 2013 McDonald’s Queensland Multi Class Championships.

Leonhardt initially competed in the S10 classification for athletes with physical impairments, but the International Paralympic Committee later decided her impairment was too mild for that category, reclassifying her to S14, a class for athletes with intellectual impairments. The change did not slow her down: she made her Paralympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, reaching finals in the 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games she won silver in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB9, and at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics she claimed a silver medal in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S14, finishing just 1.89 seconds behind the world record holder.

Her career continued to ascend at world championships: gold in the Women’s 100m Butterfly S14 at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, and a world-record-setting gold in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester. She also competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, finishing fourth in the 100m breaststroke and seventh in the butterfly.

Support and future outlook

Leonhardt has described swimming as the only environment where she feels “like everyone else.” Outside the pool, she serves as an ambassador for Variety the Children’s Charity, supporting families with children who have special needs or face financial barriers, and volunteers at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. She has expressed a future desire to work with animals.

In the wake of her psychosis, she is receiving support from her QAS (Queensland Academy of Sport) support team, doctors, a GP and a private psychologist. “I’m so grateful for my support network for helping me through the episode and I’m looking forward to my future,” she wrote. “A healthy and happy road ahead!”

Her post was met with an outpouring of messages of love and support. Leonhardt, who now lives in Mount Cotton, Queensland, previously called Port Macquarie home. She has named wheelchair rugby gold medallist Ryley Batt as her idol.