‘I call it no-leg-a-ritis’: The indomitable life of spina-bifida sufferer John Coutis

He had his legs amputated after a rare spinal condition rendered him unable to walk, but that hasn’t stopped John Coutis from getting around  - on quadbikes and skateboards.

Mr Coutis was born with a complex form of spina bifida, a medical term he says is “longer than Schwarzenegger” to pronounce. To simplify things, the motivational speaker refers to his condition as “no-leg-a-ritis”.

And now he and his family have told Channel Nine’s Inside Story about his remarkable life.

When he was born, parents Gary and Evelyn were told their son would not survive.

But in the first instance of many times their son would go on to defy the odds, the couple returned to the hospital six weeks later and took him home.

Mr Coutis faced horrendous bullying during his school years, which he did not begin until the age of 10.

“Bullying at school was horrific. There were things that happened to John that you wouldn’t expect to happen to a dog on the street,” Evelyn said.

Gary said despite the trauma of his school days, he showed remarkable resilience.

“He’s got a sense of humour – he’s a bit of a larrikin,” Gary Coutis said.

Mr Coutis’s crackling personality is what attracted wife Leanne to him.

“We got on like a house on fire from day dot didn’t we, we laughed, we laughed like we hadn’t in years,” she told Inside Story’s Leila McKinnon.

Mr Coutis is quick to agree.

“If I had a choice between this and legs – I’d choose her,” he said.

“You know I’d take you – every day.”

Hear John Coutis’s remarkable story in his own words on Inside Story this Thursday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine.