Luke’s family story of resilience and hope

Mark and Luke at the 2024 AFL Grand Final

It’s fair to say that life changed for Luke and his family in 2019 when his father, Mark Berridge, was involved in a bike accident that resulted in two crushed vertebrae and a compressed spinal cord.

Luke was undertaking his year 12 studies at high school at the time of the accident, with aspirations to become a sports physiotherapist.

Fast forward to today, and Luke has been a part of the physiotherapy team at RBWH since early 2024.

“While Dad’s accident wasn’t my inspiration to become a physio, it opened my eyes to different kinds of physiotherapy and the difference it can make to improving the quality of life for patients,” Luke said.

Luke now works in the same ward and with some of the same physios who helped his dad recover.

“I feel blessed to work alongside some of the people involved in Dad’s rehab and who gave him hope for the future,” Luke said.

“The experience of seeing Dad recover and the impact it had on him and our family has helped me better understand the lived experience of my patients and their loved ones, to provide more holistic patient-centred care.”

Luke is keen to share that his dad is now doing well and living a happy, ‘new-normal’ life, including watching the Brisbane Lions win the 2024 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with Luke (pictured).

“Dad has a good quality of life now and is doing well. He’s a motivational speaker, has given a TEDX Talk about his experience and is a Patient Ambassador for the RBWH Foundation.”

If you’d like to learn more about Mark’s story, he participated in the RBWH Foundation’s ’40 Stories’ series earlier this year, which you can access here.