Red Bull action sports photographer Graeme Murray (centre left) and Jadon Probert, 15, at their photography session, with Louis Hamilton (left) and Ashley Bond bike riding. Photo/Andrew Warner
Red Bull action sports photographer Graeme Murray (centre left) and Jadon Probert, 15, at their photography session, with Louis Hamilton (left) and Ashley Bond bike riding. Photo/Andrew Warner
Taking part in action sports used to be Jadon Probert's favourite pastime.
But when he suffered a sudden brain condition in 2016, that love of surfing and mountain biking was taken away from him.
The 15-year-old from Whakatane was given a slice of that action again yesterdaywhen he got to spend the day learning tips and tricks from one of his idols in Rotorua.
Jadon received a Make-A-Wish session with his hero – Red Bull action sports photographer, and local, Graeme Murray.
Jadon had a cavernoma in his brain stem, which bled three times to the point it required a nine-hour surgery and resulted in total left paralysis.
Jadon was in Starship for three months, and spent five months in children's rehab in Auckland in late 2016.
He has had to learn to speak, walk and do everyday activities again. Jadon is on his way to being fully independent, back to riding bikes and being full-time at school.
His everyday life was changed in that he went from being an active boy, who was into all sports, to now needing assistance every day. However, he has made a big recovery.
Jadon said he was looking forward to learning more about photography, getting better at it and taking shots of the mountain bikers.
He said he enjoyed action sport because of its freedom, going fast and tricks.
"I just love being able to capture the moment and being able to keep it. I like the creative side of photography as well."
He said it was awesome being able to spend the day getting tips and tricks from Murray, and that his new camera from Canon had got a lot of use since he received it in December.
One of the mountain biking photos Jadon Probert, 15, took in his photography session. Photo/Supplied
Before they left on their shoot yesterday, Murray said they would go to a few locations, including Dodzy Skills Park, the Dual Slalom Track, and taking a vehicle up into the forest to find some cool spots.
"We're going to just have some fun and shoot some photos."
He said it felt awesome to be able to share this experience with Jadon.
"It's cool being able to hang out with people into photography, and it's cool when you hear people follow your work.
"It was great to get a call from Canon and I couldn't say no to it."
The talent featuring in their photographs were competitive bike riders Louis Hamilton and Ashley Bond.
Canon New Zealand corporate communications Laura Barrett said it had been great being able to given Jadon a 7D camera and lens.
She said Jadon was into action photography and mountain biking, so they had wanted to create a cool experience to come out and do photography with Murray as one of his idols.
"It's great to see people's passion for photography and what our equipment allows them to do with it.
"We hope by helping Jadon with this wish that we can foster his dream to become a photographer."
She said granting this wish had been a great way to announce Canon's partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
