After spending the past four years rehabilitating from a serious spinal injury while playing rugby, former Hurricanes lock Michael Fatialofa is looking at the next stage of his life.
The 31 year-old told 1News he has contacted Paralympics New Zealand to asses his options.
"I actually just sent an email to them last week to see what events there are out there," Fatialofa said.
"It's a weird one because with my level of disability there's not many categories.
"I'm affected from the shoulders down there's muscle weakness in all four limbs but I can't do wheelchair things, so I've looked into it but not that deeply, I still have to get classified."
A life threatening accident while playing for English club Worcester in 2020 left Fatialofa with a fractured C4 vertebrae and compressed spinal cord.
The former lock defied medical odds learning how to walk and talk again after being told to prepare to live the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
However, funding his recovery has been an obstacle, but initiatives like the Hurricanes Alumni helped pay for physiotherapy and other treatments while being based for the past two years in Rarotonga with his wife Tatiana.
The couple returned to New Zealand ahead of the birth of their first baby.
"Now that I'm back for a while I've been thinking about what I want to do next," he mused.
"I think I am lacking something to apply myself to because so much of my life has been taken up by rehabilitation and pain management, getting used to life with this injury.
"It doesn't have to be sport, it's more something to give me fulfilment, I don't know what that exactly is yet.
"It's almost like I didn't go through all this to do something boring, if I'm going apply myself to something it needs to be hard on my body and mind so I want it to be worth my time and not something I don't enjoy."
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