It’s fair to say there are few people in the world who bring a message of resilience and determination as effectively as Nick Chisholm.

Twenty-two years ago next month, Nick (or “Chis”) suffered a series of seizures followed by a massive brain stem stroke on the rugby field. He was 27 years old, super fit, good-looking and very, very sporty. But within moments, he was a tetraplegic, unable to move anything at all. He was completely locked inside himself, with no control over any aspect of his physical being. In fact, as he lay on his hospital bed some time afterwards, he heard his doctors advising his mother that the best option for him was to have his life-support machines turned off, because he had ‘no real future’.

Now, Nick is an Iron Warrior, several times national wheelchair bodybuilding champion. He competes and wins against people with far more physical movement and ability than himself. He is a personal trainer, helping other people with physical disabilities, and does it free of charge. He travels to schools all around the Dunedin area sharing his message of resilience and coping with adversity to young people, all without charge. He is also a married father of triplets!

When Nick visited EOHS last Monday with his assistant Rob Stewart, our Year 9-13s were absolutely stunned. His incredible story, and his subsequent successes are an inspiration to us all. He talked about his determination to make his life the best it can be through channeling his anger: for Nick, anger is a gift. He asked us, are we going to let our situation define us? In the face of adversity, are we going to give up? Or are we going to try to help ourselves, because the more we do that, the more other people will want to help us.

Thank you so much, Nick, for giving us your time, your message, your courage. If we’re able to show even half of your resilience and determination, we’re winning.