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Jason Cadee has enjoyed a successful NBL career to date.
Since joining the Sydney Kings in the 2014/15 season, Cadee hasn’t missed a game, a testament to the hard work he puts in both on and off the court.
He was rewarded this off-season with selection in the NBL All-Australia team which toured China. The representative selection adds to his appearances in the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Stankovic Cup, and the 2013 Sino-Australia Challenge team.
Cadee was always destined to make it. He was chosen for the international team at the 2010 Nike Hoops Summit, playing alongside Nikola Mirotic, Enes Kanter and NBA champion Tristan Thompson, whilst plying his trade against the likes Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes and Brandon Knight.
In that same year, he made his Boomers debut against Argentina, gaining experience playing with Patty Mills and Brad Newley.
His career could’ve turned out a lot different however.
On July 20 2010, Cadee was driving on the M7 highway in Sydney when he was hit by a semi-trailer. The vehicle made head-on impact with his driver’s side door, trapping him for 90 minutes.
It was during this anguishing period that a mystery woman turned into the ultimate Good Samaritan, waiting with Cadee whilst help arrived.
“I was driving home, and next minute I know I was pushed off the road on the M7, sitting on the median strip which was all gravel as I tried to come back on,” Cadee said to the NBL’s ‘In Their Own Words’.
“The back wheels spun out, I planted on the inside lane, turned to my right, and here comes a semi-trailer that just pummelled me.
“I woke up and she (the mystery woman) was in the car. I obviously didn’t know her from a bar of soap, but she had come across from the other side of the freeway, so she had parked and come across two moving lanes.
“She sat in the car and just comforted me the whole time. As soon as I woke up I freaked out and was wondering what was going on, where I was and can I get out of here.
“She just sat there and told me that I was going to be alright, the ambulance was on the way and just to relax.
“I haven’t spoken to her since, and I just wish I could.
“Her name was actually Ida, which was my grandmother’s name, and you don’t hear that name often.
“I’d love to get her to a Kings game, I’d love to meet her to be honest.”
The western-Sydney native came out of the incident with just a fractured pelvis, a miracle in itself.
Now, a campaign by the Sydney Kings to ‘Find Ida’ and a strong media push, in particular from the Rouse Hill Times, has resulted in one of the feel-good stories of the NBL season.
The ‘mystery woman’ has been identified as Ida Marie Wertere, a resident of Prestons in Sydney’s south-west.
Upon finding out that Ida had been discovered, the Kings guard was subjected to a range of emotions.
“To be honest I felt a bit sick yesterday (when hearing the news), I don’t know why,” Cadee said.
“It just put me in a weird place because I never thought someone would just come out of the blue after so much time.
“But today, after having a sleep on it, I’m really excited to have the chance to see and meet her, and say thank-you.
“I just signed with the (Gold Coast) Blaze, so she probably thought that when I said I needed to play basketball again that I just like playing down at the park, she didn’t realise I played professionally.
“Maybe she’ll see that I actually did play basketball or was going to, and she’s a big part of me getting back.”
The Kings will host Ida and her family at their home game this Sunday afternoon against the New Zealand Breakers, where she will be thanked publicly before the game, with a reunion with Cadee planned for after the game.
After a nail-biting win against the Brisbane Bullets, Sydney heads into Sunday’s game needing a win to maintain their spot in the top four, and claim a vital season split against their Trans-Tasman rivals.
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