On Waitangi Day two years ago, Gordon Dick suffered a stroke while competing in the NZ Masters Games at Wanganui.
Yesterday he was back at the same venue, helping his Pahiatua team qualify in the fours at the indoor bowls in Jubilee Stadium having earlier dipped out in the pairs.
He's no stranger to the Masters Games, having attended a dozen of them before now.
The 80-year-old has been a bowler for years, taking up the indoor version in the mid-1980s.
"The outdoor game is too hard for me getting up and down the greens. But the indoor is fine," he said.
He's maintained an active interest off the greens as well, being secretary of the Bush-Ruahine association for 18 years and only giving that up last year for health reasons.
Dick said suffering a stroke in 2013 "wasn't a very pleasant thing" but he's recovered remarkably well. "It's slowed me up a bit and I can't get down on the mat as I used to."
It means he has to lean on his walking stick, but he still played some accurate bowls as second in his four.
He and his wife were regarded as better-than-average players but she died in August, "so having an interest like this keeps me going".
He's planning to tackle the national indoor bowls championships mid-year in Timaru. He'd like to go one better than the runner-up placing he and his wife managed in the pairs a few years ago.