SNN_July 2021 Issue_web low res

SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 11
Back on Top of His Maunga
The incredible comeback story of Andrew Leslie
A smile of satisfaction: Andrew Leslie on top of Mt Kaukau in Wellington.
Andrew Leslie is standing atop of Mt Kaukau
in Wellington with a wry smile on his face.
He feels like crying.
He drops his walking sticks, falls back onto the grass and
soaks up the unbelievable and endless views of
Wellington Harbour as he reflects on what he has just
achieved. The painful step-by-step journey (with
assistance), a climb of 445m to the summit, is a fitting
metaphor of what Andrew has endured and overcome.
“That was hard work,” Andrew says, short of breath. “I’m so
thankful that I can still do this. I have focused on the goal
to get back up here everyday. I always hoped that I’d be
able to but after what I’ve been through, you never know.”
Andrew knew that the job was only half-done. With his
injury, the descent was the hardest part and he took great
satisfaction in successfully getting to the bottom.
“I wish I’d taken the other route”
One year ago, Andrew’s life changed forever when he was
mountain biking at Mākara Peak.
A week out from New Zealand’s first lockdown, the CEO of
Recreation Aotearoa was riding down a Grade 4 track.
There was a fork in the track where riders veer right to go
over a drop or left to avoid it.
—Andrew Leslie
There are so many times
when I’ve thought about
that moment and wished I’d
taken the other route.
“It was a split-second decision; I’d been over it before, so I
guess it was instinctive to veer right,” he says.
“There are so many times where I’ve thought about that
moment and wished I’d taken the other route. How life
could have been so different.”
At the edge of the drop, Andrew’s balance was off and his
front wheel not in line. He went over the handlebars and
landed on his head on a rock. His body went numb
instantly.
Andrew drew breath to make the loudest noise he could to
alert the next person coming down the track so they
wouldn’t land on top of him.