KEY POINTS:
As James Christian lay in an ambulance beside an injured Jonny Wilkinson, he feared he might never walk again, let alone play rugby.
Next Saturday, he will line up in Taupo with 1119 fellow competitors for Ironman New Zealand. His triumph will be getting to the finish line
of the gruelling event but it's an accomplishment for him to even start.
The 28-year-old was one of the country's most promising rugby players when selected for Auckland's NPC side as an 18-year-old by then Auckland coach Graham Henry.
He played five seasons with Auckland and three with the Blues, including the 1998 Super 12 final, and also gained representative honours with the New Zealand Colts, Barbarians and New Zealand Universities.
He was destined for big things, perhaps even the All Blacks. Instead he faced an even bigger challenge. While playing for Newcastle in the English Premiership in 2002, the hooker took an accidental knee to the head and was left temporarily paralysed.
"It felt like someone was putting a blowtorch down my spinal cord," he says.
He regained feeling throughout most of his body but the nerve damage to his spinal cord was so serious, his left arm was virtually useless – useless enough that it ended his rugby career.
Christian refused to accept it. He was in denial.
"I went from one doctor to the next looking for someone to tell me I would be fine," he says. "I saw 12 specialists but they all said the same thing. My career was over.
"I was 24 years old, I had a life plan set out. I was going to play rugby until I was 32 to 34 and then find a career afterwards. All of a sudden, I had to wake up and find something else to do.
"I was in a black hole for about two years with pretty bad depression. My whole world had been taken away."
Christian has found a new world. At a sales conference, double amputee Mark Inglis ignited something in Christian that had been missing for more than two years.
"He said everyone has their own Everest to climb," Christian explains. "I was sitting there thinking, 'I've always wanted to knock out an ironman. If he can climb his mountains, then I can do this.' It was bloody inspiring."
Christian still didn't have full use of his left arm – he probably never will – but he has built it to about 90 per cent.
It's still a bit numb but, as he says: "I'm lucky to be walking so I can live with a little feeling lost in my arm."
His foray back into sport started with the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, a couple of social triathlons and soon escalated to a half-ironman. The ultimate goal, though, remains the full ironman and, after thinking about it for so long, he's apprehensive about next weekend.
"I'm anxious about the unknown. This is the ultimate challenge for body and mind," he explains.
"My goal is to finish the race but I'm a naturally competitive person and want to do more. My biggest battle is coming from the front row and wanting to go out aggressively but I need to be patient and controlled."
Five-time winner Cameron Brown is one who drummed this into Christian. The two have trained together and it's helped Christian shed 28kg off his rugby-playing frame down to 91kg.
It's clear the hard work has been worth it. He was recently selected for the New Zealand ITU long course team to compete at the world champs in France. He also has his sights on competing in the Coast to Coast one day.
Henry had other things in mind for Christian but the All Blacks coach was delighted to see his former charge had put his injury behind him.
"I bumped into James a few months back when he was training down at the waterfront," Henry said this week.
"He looked to be in really good shape and it was great to see he has moved on and has something else in his life. That speaks volumes about his character."
Christian still thinks about his accident and rugby but mercifully not as much as he used to. He even went through a phase when he resented his former team-mates.
"I see guys who used to be reserves to me when I was going through age-group teams now wearing the black jersey, like Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore," Christian says.
"For the first two years, it was pretty hard to watch my peers do well but now I'm really happy for them.
"But now it's about the future. It will be a weight off my shoulders to get to the finish line [next weekend] after what I've been through. The biggest thing is to fulfil my potential. Rugby drilled that into me."
That is something Christian can at least thank rugby for.
