When Scott Martlew had his left leg amputated, he was hesitant about whether he would ever paddle a canoe again.
But while he was in hospital recovering, a visit from a friend guided him toward a path that would ultimately see him selected to represent New Zealand at the Paralympics.
Part of a four-man canoe team who had won gold and silver medals for the South Brighton Surf Life Saving Club at the national championships in March 2010, Martlew's life changed in May of the same year when he was injured during a rugby game. Martlew found himself pinned at the bottom of a ruck, and came out of it with a dead leg.
Running on adrenaline, he was able to push on and see out the game, scoring a try late in the piece. It would be the last try he ever scored.
A few days after the game, Martlew got the injury looked at, and scans revealed he had fluid surrounding a 10-centimetre tear in his thigh muscle. He was sent home with crutches, however when the injury did not improve, but rather worsened, he was admitted into hospital.
It was a few days before medical staff discovered he had necrotising fasciitis, commonly known as flesh-eating disease, which was ravaging his leg and moving up his body.
"My parents had to make the quick decision to amputate my leg and save my life," he recalls.
"When I was in the ward at hospital, my mate came up and presented me with his canoe paddle and said he wants to see me back out on the water again," Martlew says. "At that stage I didn't know if I could even sit in the boat, so I was hesitant.
"Once I did get back in the boat, it came back to me pretty quickly – although I did fall in a lot of times. But after a few weeks I relearned how to paddle with only having one leg to drive off."
Ten months after having his leg amputated, Martlew was back competing at the surf lifesaving nationals in the same four-person canoe team he had raced with the year prior. Again, they collected a number of medals.
Martlew was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janiero in the KL3 class of the canoeing programme, a class for paddlers with trunk function and partial leg function. Martlew made it into the final of the event, but ultimately came up short in his bid for a medal.
This year, he's looking to earn himself a place on the podium in Tokyo.
"I've got my sights firmly set on a medal. I just want to be the best I can be and make everyone that has supported me along this journey be proud of what I'm doing. I'm definitely very grateful to have a second chance at life, I guess. It's something you take for granted, how quickly things can change.
"It would be pretty amazing to inspire other people in a similar position, or just in everyday life, to inspire them to get out there and make the most of everything."
Toyota is a major partner of Paralympics New Zealand, helping Kiwis to 'Start Your Impossible'.