He had just refereed his second Heartland Championship game and went to the Turoa ski field on Mount Ruapehu with a friend the next day.
He hit some ice, lost control and smashed into a rock — Macpherson, 33, said he remembered his fall “pretty clearly”.
His first thought was that he was still alive, and then he looked down at his lower leg and saw that it was crooked. He straightened it out where he lay, and felt intense pain.
There’s been a lot of rehabilitation since. A steel rod was inserted into his tibia while his fibula was left to heal itself. He was on crutches until December.
Macpherson worked with physiotherapist Penelope Tyson to rebuild his muscle and restore his movement.
“I was lucky to have her,” he said.
“She knew my work background and went out of her way to get me back to 100 percent.”
He was able to do bits and pieces on the family sheep and beef farm at Te Karaka — an occupation that keeps him fit.
With such a long time on the sidelines, he said the support of his wife Vivienne was crucial.
Macpherson, a former Poverty Bay representative flanker, also swam to maintain cardio fitness.
He tried to return to refereeing last month but wasn’t quite right, feeling some pain where his leg had been broken: “I thought I was all right and started running and it was sore again.”
His coach, Chris Pollock, put him in touch with French referee Mathieu Raynal, who suffered a similar injury in 2013.
Macpherson said it was helpful to talk to Raynal about expectations for his recovery and when he could return to refereeing. An extra couple of weeks without any running seemed to do the trick.
He said young referees Ollie Holst and Isaac Hughes — who shared the refereeing duties for the first match between PGG Wrightson Country and The Gisborne Herald Town last month — had stepped up in his absence. Macpherson coaches Holst and has helped Hughes as well.
