Not one of those 1,362 days has passed without his parents thinking what might have been after a severe bacterial infection attacked their son's vital organs and had him teetering on the brink of life and death.

"We didn't ever let ourselves think that he was going to die. But the doctors were telling me he's not going to live. He's going to die," Josh's father Andrew says.

"I said to the doctors: He'll keep on coming. Keep jamming what you can into him. You might have had some blokes here before that never give in, but he won't give in. Just don't give up on him.

"I said, 'He's no good to us dead'. But it's luck of the draw sometimes too and we got lucky."

"Next thing, he's doing this... it's pretty hard to put it into words. A lot runs through your mind."

Three more winters have passed since then and the boy from Weethalle is in China ready to compete against the world's best in the slalom and giant slalom.

"It really has brought it all back," Josh's mum Leanne says.

"Thinking about being in the medical ward, when he still had so much to go through (after emerging from a coma). He hadn't had the stomach surgery, the lung surgery and everything else.

"All of those feelings about what he's been through... that's every day.

"Not all day every day, but not a day goes past that you don't think, 'Thank God we've still got him'.

"You wouldn't wish it upon your worst enemy. And look where he is."

Leanne says her son has always carried a quiet determination. Since June 2018, Josh and his old man even have a signal for it.

"When he first came out of a coma, they had a bit of a talk, and Andrew started tapping his heart and saying, 'This is what's getting him through," Leanne recalls.

"And from then on, any time he got wheeled down for any surgeries or scans, he'd tap his heart."

After intensive care efforts to keep him alive, the amputation of both lower legs and his right hand, and yet more surgeries, there was a life to rebuild.

Hanlon had old skills to re-learn, like walking. And, later, new ones like trying out a sit-ski in the winter of 2019. Almost immediately he felt at ease.

"I think I did know that he could do something brilliant. But it's still mind blowing," Leanne says.

Before long he was turning heads at Snow Australia.

"Once we knew he was going to have a crack... he won't leave a stone unturned," Andrew says.

"He concentrates on his training, he won't drink soft drink, he doesn't eat crap...

"I bet he gives them something to chase when they're training. He sends us some figures from the rowing machines... how long he's on there for and what he does and bloody hell! He just likes the challenge."

Leanne is starting to decorate the house to celebrate the Games. Andrew is rushing ahead at work to make sure he can be at home in front of the TV by 1pm Thursday with close family.

"We'll just perch up at home and watch it," Andrew said.

Staying on the perch will be the problem if their experience watching Hanlon compete in the World Para Snow Sports Championships in January is any guide.

"All the world cup events he was skiing in before, I was glued to the computer screen watching live times, but not actually watching him," Leanne said.

"To actually watch him do it, oh my God, Andrew and I went absolutely crazy after his first run... we were just beside ourselves."

Andrew's heart was in his mouth as more experienced skiers wiped out in their runs at Lillehammer.

"You're just willing him down there," he says.

"Some of them were going down like flies and I was thinking, they've been sit-skiing for 10 years. How the bloody hell is he going to get down there?

"It was unreal how he looked so steady and smooth. And he got down. That's what the coaches wanted."

Clean runs on debut, top 10 finishes in his two events and suddenly he was locked in for the Paralympics. All that despite a career virtually halted by COVID in 2020 then a serious skiing accident in 2021.

"When you put it all in perspective, he's probably only had six months, maybe seven months, on the snow on that sit-ski," Andrew says.

"Another year on the snow would've made a hell of a difference. But he'll be up there cracking with them."

Hanlon is confident is training is going well and he's hopeful he's taken seconds off his times since the World Championships.

The 24-year-old is still so green that he's in a stage of his career where dramatic improvement is possible.

The former ruckman hasn't had the months and years tackling the elite level courses. He's learning in competition.

Originally, he'd expected to have to travel to the United States for the start of this year to keep working away in the hope of a late Paralympics invitataion. But stunning progression saw him go from wildcard spots at World Cups to a World Champs and now a Paralympic Games within months.

"He was looking like going to America but then when he went really well in those couple of World Cup races, they said that he can stay (in Europe)," Andrew says.

"That's probably made the world of difference, racing against those blokes and seeing what he's got to do, how he's got to get quicker."

Leanne says she's in awe of Josh, not just to get where he is in a short space of time but the desire to keep getting better. Having earned his spot at the Paralympics, he is determined to make the most of it.

But the Games aren't everything for the Hanlons. He's been away from home since November and seeing him represent his country might yet be topped by seeing him in person in 10 days time.

"I'm very excited (for the Paralympic Games). I just can't wait for it to be here. But then, better still, for Josh to come home," Leanne laughs.

"It's been such a long time."

Four months feels like an eternity for the Hanlons after the journey they've been on.

Andrew says they'll never forget the support Josh has enjoyed throughout the Riverina, since football clubs first rallied in support, followed by the wider community, and friends started a Facebook page for fundraising which later offered updates on his progress.

"He's got plenty of support from friends and all the people that have helped him along the way," he says.

Their son's success has seen his story spreading more widely. The pride of their lives taking them on the ride of their lives.

It's overwhelming. But, honestly? When you strip everything back, it's all icing on the cake. when

"All of this is good... doing all the sport, and being over there doing that. It's good," Andrew says.

"But the biggest part is living. If he wasn't alive, our lives would be that much different. But having him alive is all that mattered.

"Those first few years, I'd cry every bloody morning on the way to work and on the way home. You just think, what could've been... how close were we to our lives just being turned upside down.

"You only need one little thing to go wrong and the whole scenario changes."

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