Jayden Glentworth has continued to embrace the outdoors after a severe accident, thanks to help from the New Zealand Spinal Trust.
Jayden Glentworth has continued to embrace the outdoors after a severe accident, thanks to help from the New Zealand Spinal Trust.
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Jayden Glentworth became paraplegic after a 2019 mountain biking accident in Palmerston North.
He quickly adapted, with help from the New Zealand Spinal Trust, engaging in para-sports and becoming a school prefect.
Glentworth now works at Whistler Ski Resort and is part of New Zealand Paralympics’ Para Sport Collective.
Imagine waking up in an ICU bed, with doctors and specialists talking of a para or tetraplegic – and then realising the para or tetra is actually you ... that’s a truly life-changing moment.
It can be daunting, overwhelming, frightening. It will also be the start ofa new journey – a life that is different, but not inherently bad.
With support from people who truly understand, someone with a Spinal Cord Impairment (SCI) can learn to meet challenges and embrace new opportunities, participate fully in their community and squeeze every drop out of a life that can be well lived.
In December 2019, Jayden Glentworth was flying down a local mountain biking track in Palmerston North on to a jump known as the Ripper Gap, confident of landing it as he’d already done three times that day. This time though, something went wrong. He crashed.
Glentworth’s spinal cord was almost severed – he had a burst fracture at T12 level and no feeling from the waist down.
He was flown to Christchurch Hospital for emergency surgery and then transferred to Burwood Hospital’s Spinal Unit for three months of rehabilitation. His mum and dad took week about to be with him, and other family members and many, many friends flew down to visit frequently.
Glentworth adjusted quickly to his situation – within weeks he was chatting with the New Zealand Spinal Trust’s Peer Support team (all of whom have their own spinal story) about adaptive e-bikes and other para-sports. He set himself goals around wheelchair skills and physical fitness before he left Burwood – and achieved all of them.
On returning home he got back out on the MTB track – this time as a photographer for his friends. He was made a prefect at school and completed a multi-day, multi-sport challenge run by his school, using a kayak and an e-handbike.
He and his dad popped into the New Zealand Spinal Trust offices for a catch-up after his six-month check-up – and again after his first run at sit-skiing (he loved it!).
Sit-skiing became an activity that Glentworth loved and was good at – he joined the New Zealand Paralympics Para Sport Collective in 2023. As part of his coach’s suggestion that he immerse himself in all things snow, he found himself a job at Whistler Ski Resort in Canada for their 2023/24 season; he loved it so much that he stayed on for the 2024 summer and was then asked to train as a snow groomer for the 2024/25 ski season.
Who’d have ever thought a 21-year-old paraplegic lad from Palmerston North would end up driving an enormous million-dollar specialised machine over the skifields of Whistler ... and spend his days once again hurtling down those same mountains in his sit-ski (or adapted e-mountain bike in summer)?
The New Zealand Spinal Trust is part of the Glentworth family’s support group – they’re here for the highs and lows.
Mark Glentworth, Jayden Glentworth’s father, says of their experience: “Having the trust there to help navigate those first few weeks or even the first few months was just incredible because it’s extremely overwhelming. When you’ve got someone like the NZ Spinal Trust there just to help explain how everything works and support you through it and be here when you need questions answered. It was a game-changer and made a great difference to us.”
Jayden Glentworth’s future is looking so positive now Glentworth it might not be the future he originally saw for himself, but this is a young man who’s going places Glentworth usually fast ... and down a hill.
To donate to the New Zealand Spinal Trust’s campaign, click here.
