Peak practice

By his own admission massage therapy student Dion Newport used to know absolutely nothing about anatomy. Or massage. But after a ‘skiing incident’ he quickly learned all about his own damaged sciatic nerve. The rest, as they say, is history.

A keen free-skier, Dion turned up to the Big Air Free Skiing and Snowboarding Competition in Christchurch one year as a wild card entrant without much hope of winning. The organisers suggested that Dion earn some money judging instead of spending money on entering and risking injury. Two years later he was head judge for New Zealand.

And how does this all of this relate to the sciatic nerve? Well, after finding himself temporarily paralysed on the side of an isolated mountain he had a bit of time to think about just how many people like him in the ski industry hurt themselves.

“I wanted to do something to help people and something that fuelled my own skiing, but I had no science background. My first experience at Otago Polytechnic studying Ski Instructing and Avalanche Safety was a good one, so I rang the Polytechnic Massage Department to talk about what I was looking for.

“I didn’t want to be swamped by people on the programme. I want to be hands on, to talk to the tutors and to take advantage of all the resources. I came away convinced that massage therapy was a really good idea.”

At the end of his programme he’ll continue his work with the Winter Olympic Programme, teaching young New Zealand free-skiers and earning money to fund his world travel. First stop, Colorado to “coach five and six year olds who ski better than I do!

“My injury had a huge influence in what I was up to with my life. We’ll see where I end up – I’m told that international Motorsport teams have a therapist travel with them. That could definitely be me.”