Inspired by film-maker Marcus Cobbledick, the Year 12 student's final VCE media assignment is a raw, emotional telling of Edwards’ shocking smash that left him inches from death and without four fingers on his right hand, and his subsequent recovery.
And like any good film, Edwards ensured his tale would have a happy ending by winning January's Road Nationals C5 para-cycling road race — fittingly, the documentary is titled To Hell and Back.
Skidmore, 18, said pushing himself as a media creator had helped him stumble upon the film idea.
“For our final media assignment we had to create a photo sequence or film — I felt like I had a lot of experience with photography, but I wanted to push myself,” Skidmore said.
“I'm not great at making decisions, I tend to spend hours making them, and I was thinking of making a film where I'd develop characters. But I watched two documentaries — All For One and Fairless — both directed by Marcus Cobbledick, both amazing documentaries.
“I wondered what I could make something similar on, and one day it just clicked for me — Liam, his car accident, and winning the national championship.”
While they say all's well that ends well, Skidmore said diving into the emotional depths of Edwards’ accident, particularly with the cyclist's parents, had been far from easy.
“I didn't like it, I said to my parents I really hated having to bring up such traumatic experiences, you really do have to relive that stuff to retell the story,” he said.
“Off camera, even just discussing it with them for the first time, there's just pure, natural emotion. It's hard having to ask the questions of what happened, but it had to be sad, being such a crucial part of the story.”
Summing up Edwards’ remarkable story, Skidmore said the film's name said it best.
“It's amazing; not to just use the title I gave it, but he's been to hell and back,” he said.
“Anyone who has had an accident like that has gone through a life-changing experience — from one day to the next you're in hospital looking at the loss of limbs, or his fingers. My heart really goes out to anyone who has been through trauma such as that.
“But it is an amazing ending; you'd want to tell the story even if he lost, but he came back and won it. I love the roller-coaster of emotions the film goes through.”
The film can be viewed on YouTube by searching To Hell and Back VCE Media SAT.
