Tyson, known as JT, has been playing wheelchair rugby for about 15 years and a mate calls him a veteran.
Jonathon Tyson with his cat Paws, also known as Horace. Photo / Judith Lacy
On Saturdays, he does his own training for rugby and says he is pushing himself pretty hard.
At home, he has a 9kg medicine ball he holds with outstretched arms.
Over Christmas, he took just 10 days off rugby and boxing training. If he stops training for too long his back starts getting sore; he thinks his body has got so used to training that when he stops his body doesn’t like it.
Tyson says as soon as he puts his rugby chair in his car his body goes into training mode.
He is a big Speedway fan and Palmerston North Panthers supporter. He has a Speedway wall at home with memorabilia and buys a new Panthers cap each year.
Tyson knows all the Panthers drivers plus just about all the other drivers.
He has been around Harrisville Speedway Ōhakea on the back of a sidecar.
A mate told him he would have to be nuts to do that. Tyson replied: “Yep, that’s me.” The experience was fun.
He has participated in about four Relay for Life fundraisers and this year did 107 laps on grass.
