Peter Williams: He stared death in the face but Brad is back

On July 17 last year Bradley Iles was close to death.

"When they brought me to the hospital after the accident I had four hours to live. The surgeon did the operation in three hours, so I guess I'm pretty lucky to be alive," he told me this week.

Only when the dire nature of his situation eight months ago is realised, can the significance of Iles' win at the North Island Championship in New Plymouth last Sunday be fully appreciated. It should be regarded as one of the most incredible comebacks from an injury or health situation in this country's recent sporting history.

The circumstances of what happened that fateful Sunday night in South Carolina were well documented at the time. He was riding on the back of a golf cart, hi-jinking with mates while "looking for alligators". He fell off, hit his head on the concrete path, went into a coma for three days and was unconscious for a further five.

"My brain was blown up like a balloon with all the fluid in it. They had to drain it, otherwise my brain would have exploded. But the neurosurgeon at the hospital in Savannah, Doctor Fue, is regarded as one of the best in his field in America and he saved my life."

After the accident and the operation there was extreme doubt about what his eventual condition would be.

But even on his return to the family home in Mount Maunganui many thought it would be some time, if ever, before he would approach his previous level of golfing excellence.

"I'd get the shakes from my medication, really bad vertigo and I had no balance. I wanted to play but the migraines were so bad I couldn't walk."

He was back in competitive play in January at the national under-23 championship, not surprisingly well back in the field. The first hint that he could be showing some form was his win, with Matthew Holten, in the Australian Foursomes. Even after that, his victory in New Plymouth was a bolter.

"That win was unbelievable. I had my dad caddying for me. We stayed together in a truck stop. After all my family and I had been through, for my dad to be there was so emotional."

So is he playing the game at the same level now as he was last July when, as the country's top amateur player.

"No, I'm nowhere near that. Back then my swing was hard-wired into my system because of all the work I'd done. These days I'm not technically as good but I'm much stronger in my planning and preparation." His return to the top echelon of the amateur game has come quickly. He's followed up his North Island Championship win with a strong showing at this week's South Island event in Blenheim. Iles is also certain to be named in the New Zealand team for the Four Nations Cup in Japan in mid-May.

But he's a different young man now to eight months ago.

"I'm reading a lot more - about the mind and how it can improve my golf.

"But I know how close I came to dying. I tell you, it's an honour to be alive." 

- HERALD ON SUNDAY