Sravan Threerthala is the proud father of a four-month-old baby girl named Shanvika. He says he thanks "the gods" for her arrival and his own survival.
In May 2009, the then Melbourne university student was brutally attacked when he says, he asked some gatecrashers to leave a friend's party.
"They just started spoiling the party, so I was just trying to stop a fight between them and my friends, and, unfortunately, I became the victim. The guy plunged his screwdriver into my head," says Sravan.
The medical prognosis was grim.
As Sravan Threerthala lay in a coma, doctors told his family he had a 10 per cent chance of survival.
If he did live, they said, there was a high likelihood of profound, lifelong disability.
But he defied the frightening odds, and, after two years of intensive rehabilitation, made a virtually complete recovery.
"It's my second life, so, can someone imagine, like, if someone has got a second life? Nobody would imagine it's unlucky. So, hundred per cent, I'm lucky, yeah," says Sravan.
Despite his own experience, Mr Threerthala refuses to judge his adopted country. And he urges others to resist broad statements based on a few incidents.
"I believe that Australia is not at all a racist country. We cannot blame the country just concerning, just putting in mind, one individual. It's not like, it's not like ... we cannot say that Australia is racist, as simple as that," he says.
Today, Mr Threerthala works as an employment consultant for the resettlement agency AMES, where his role is to help other migrants and refugees find work.
AMES chief executive Cath Scarth says his own story of overcoming adversity has become a powerful tool in helping resettle new arrivals.
"He can use that story to say, 'This is what happened to me, but I didn't give up.' You know, 'I carried on. I was two years in rehab. I did all of that, and here I am, still working to make sure I can contribute to the Australian community. And that's what you can do, too.'”
#FU2Racism | Face Up to Racism Week starts 26 February on SBS. Watch the first show, at and below:
If you have experienced racism and would like to share your experiences, write to us at [email protected]
Face Up To Racism # with a season of stories and programs challenging preconceptions around race and prejudice. Tune in to watch Is Australia Racist? (airs on Sunday 26 February at 8.30pm), Date My Race (airs Monday 27 February at 8.30pm) and The Truth About Racism (airs Wednesday 1 March at 8.30pm). Watch all the documentaries online after they air on.
