Dan has been part of the New Zealand Wheel Blacks for 15 years. He found out about wheelchair rugby while he was still in the spinal unit within the same week of breaking his neck in a rugby scrum gone wrong. “It took a while…to want to get into it… I just had this injury, I don’t want to get out there. Why would you be telling me about this sport that I just broke my neck doing,” he explains.
It was hard for him to accept his situation at first and he didn’t want to go back to the sport that is the reason he was having a huge life transition. People around him were quite persistent on pushing and encouraging him to join wheelchair rugby, but he felt the need to turn down their offers even more. “I kind of rebelled against it…I was like I’m not going to get a station wagon, I’m not going to play wheelchair rugby and I’m not going to move to Christchurch,” he says. “Eventually I ended up doing all three.”
It was tough for Dan, but he took the first step and went to watch the Wheel Blacks in action.
“That was when I was blown away. These guys had similar functions as me or less function than me and they were just athletes. Off court they were fun guys, they’re enjoying life. They’re all doing a lot of travelling…They’ve done things that I’ve wanted to do.”
New Possibilities
“Wheelchair rugby…opened my eyes to what was possible from a wheelchair,” he says. It helped him adjust to his new life. “A big part was just being around the guys. I also…was maximizing what I did have and what I could do.”
Now, Dan has competed in the Paralympics and was on the New Zealand team that took home the gold medal in 2004. “It was a really satisfying achievement,” he remembers. “We were…the underdogs. We knew we could do it, and to actually pull it off it was phenomenal.”
That achievement impacted his entire life. “It was definitely…something that you hold inside you as you go through life. You’ve done something that no one can ever take away from you,” he explains. “Even now…11 years later…I’ve come to appreciate it even more because it’s so hard and I’ve wanted so much to get it again.”
He really enjoys going on tour and travelling with his teammates. Knowing that they are relying on him pushes him to train even harder. “Probably the hardest for me is balancing training and work time. The social life takes a bit of a dive because friends and family do seem to take the backseat at times and that’s something I really struggle with,” says Dan. As he sees his career with wheelchair rugby coming to an end, he looks forward to spending more time with his parents and family and be able to travel on his own.”
If you’re new to the world of paralysis, “get around some good people to mentor you and to take you through it,” Dan advises. “The main opportunity is definitely getting the most out of life and learning from others and maximizing your potential. Your potential may have changed from what it was when you’re able-bodied but there’s still so much more potential and so much more that you can do.”
“I would recommend wheelchair rugby…It’s not just the sport, it’s the community around the world,” he explains. “There’s a really strong group of people that look out for one another and they support the development of other countries…There’s just a really good comraderie around the world.”
Watch Dan talk about his experiences with wheelchair rugby, including footage of him in action:
Thanks to Dan and the Wheel Blacks for sharing their real-life experiences.
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