Jason Barrell (right) and his son Troy now work together as real estate agents at Ray White Whangārei.
Jason Barrell (right) and his son Troy now work together as real estate agents at Ray White Whangārei.
From breaking his neck playing rugby to suffering strokes as a police officer and a surgery that damaged his brain, Northlander Jason Barrell has repeatedly adapted to life’s hard knocks.
But his challenges began way before he became a professional rugby union player and a household name in TeTai Tokerau.
As a child he struggled with dyslexia, found schoolwork almost impossible, and left with limited literacy and no formal qualifications.
Now 56, and after numerous career changes, the former Super Rugby prop is a top-performing real estate agent in Whangārei and continues to challenge others to see adversity as a worthy experience.
Barrell’s prowess on the rugby field led to his selection for Northland provincial teams, then as a professional representing the Blues, Chiefs and Auckland NPC.
He was 29 when he broke his neck during Auckland’s warm-up match against Northland in his hometown of Whangārei.
Refusing to be sidelined by the career-ending injury, he confronted his dyslexia and retrained for the New Zealand Police.
He was working as a constable when he began having a series of strokes.
“It turns out I’d had minor ones in college, weird stuff with my vision.
Part of his recovery involved writing a book, Try, Try Again, published in 2009, and becoming a motivational speaker.
After five years he reinvented himself again, this time as an insurance and financial adviser for a major insurance company.
After several years he realised sitting at a desk all day “wasn’t my thing”, so established a fishing charter business which he loved.
“That was when Covid came along, and the writing was on the wall.
“It wasn’t a great time for running a business like that.”
Jason Barrell (centre) during his rugby career with brother Con and young son Troy.
Barrell retrained in real estate – now in his sixth year – because “I’ve always loved property”.
He recently joined the Ray White Whangārei sales team, along with his son Troy, who is the agency’s rural salesperson.
Ray White Whangārei director Vanessa McKenzie said Barrell had faced extraordinary challenges with a “quiet achiever attitude” that was truly inspiring.
“Jason is a man of enormous character and warmth.
“In real estate, resilience is everything, and Jason has it in spades.”
Barrell said his experiences taught him that getting on with life is a choice.
“There’s always a way forward,” he said.
“You can use setbacks to achieve more or give up, it’s up to you, but I know which one is more exciting.
“I could have gone the wrong way a few times.
“But people respect you if you’re genuinely trying to get better.”
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.
