Mariu's will knows no boundaries

When Rick Mariu, 43, of Masterton stepped up to take his turn shearing at the Golden Shears in Masterton this week he was met with a huge round of applause.

Left wheelchair-bound after a road crash, Rick had beaten the odds and was back to compete, even though full-time shearing is now out of the question for him.

Rick was left for dead after a hit-and-run on the Rimutaka Hill Road in September 2007 after a car hit him, sending him flying off his motorbike. The car driver was never found.

He also had to endure five operations to try and help him walk again, as his spinal cord was split, he had five breaks in his pelvis, a ruptured bladder and two broken hips.

As Rick made his way on to the shearing board at the Golden Shears to compete in the intermediate shear it was the culmination of a five-year dream.

Doctors had told him he would probably never walk again.

For the shearer, that news was too much to bear.

"The fact that the driver did not stop was really hard to bear. It was almost as hard as suffering the injuries.

"I had been shearing since I was 14 and although I worked as a plasterer, shearing was always my passion."

He had worked mainly in Wairarapa but also in the South Island and in Australia.

In recent years, Rick has been a familiar face at Golden Shears competitions watching the action longingly from his wheelchair.

Eight months ago, during intensive swimming exercise and physiotherapy, he began to regain the strength in his legs.

"As soon as that happened, I knew the return to the Shears was in sight."

With him at the Shears is his friend, Lisa who supported him through his recovery.

"I'm shearing for her," Rick said.