By DANIELLE GALVIN
FROM a young age, Michael Faamausili discovered his athletic capabilities and looked forward to a promising career playing rugby – but fate had other plans.
The up-and-coming Pakenham personal trainer had a promising rugby career cut out for him, but a brain tumour in 2007 crippled his dreams.
It changed his life and his direction, but six years on, he’s making waves of a different kind.
Since he discovered soccer and a reason to get up in the morning, he hasn’t looked back.
“I now play soccer, but I used to play rugby and represent Victoria,” he said.
“I had surgery on my left frontal side of the brain in November 2007 which left my whole right side weakened.
“I woke up from surgery and my right side was pretty much dead.
It was at work that the 23-year-old had a seizure and was rushed to The Alfred hospital. An MRI scan revealed a lesion the size of a golf ball on his left side, and it wasn’t in an easy spot.
“The doctors did say at the time that I would have temporary weakness, but I went to rehab and the surgery left me with a disability that ended up not being temporary,” he said.
“But there’s nothing I can do about it, it took me years to get past it.”
At the time, Michael found a mentor in Paralympic champion John Eden – his rugby coach. John owned a gym in Cranbourne and Michael was training with him prior to the surgery.
“I got all of my gym knowledge pretty much from him, he was pretty elite,” Michael said.
“He trained me in shot put and discus, he saw that I wasn’t that passionate about it although I did get better at it.
“I was pretty crap – I had to get used to it, but I realised I was much better in a team.
“John hooked me up with the Disability Soccer Team in Victoria, and since then I’ve never looked back.”
Growing up in New Zealand and coming from a family keen on rugby, Michael had never considered soccer as an option before.
It’s something that has helped him get through these last few difficult years, although he admits watching a full game of an International league can get a bit boring.
When Michael joined Cardinia Life to train, it was frustrating when his body couldn’t keep up with what his mind wanted him to do, and it affected his motivation.
He told the Gazette that before his surgery, he had a purpose and a goal.
“They were previously set on rugby, but (after then) I didn’t feel like I had either of those, the goal was just to get better,” Michael said.
It was around this time that club manager at Anytime Fitness Matt Morris came onto the scene and steered his friend in the right direction.
“I didn’t really feel like I had a purpose until the end of last year, and Matt helped me to find that,” he said.
Michael is now about to start his certificate four in personal training, and the course has been funded through the Australian Institute of Fitness and their partnership with Anytime Fitness.
He’s also landed a position with Cardinia Life as part of their disability program, and he can’t wait to start. He no longer envies his brothers and their rugby careers.
“When I started playing soccer, I saw kids with worse disabilities than mine, and I saw how happy they were and I asked myself why am I so depressed?
“I realised that if they could be really joyful, it made me happy to be around them and made me a different person.”
Without the help of John, his coaches, friends like Matt and of course his family, Michael wouldn’t be the person he is today.
He says if the experience taught him anything, it was to appreciate his parents and family and tell them he was grateful for their support.
Matt said Michael was a true inspiration and that there hadn’t been one gym member to meet him who wasn’t moved by his spirit and resilience.
“He’s a great guy who hasn’t let his acquired disability get the best of him, and since joining Anytime Fitness, he has been playing soccer for a Melbourne-based side created for players with Cerebal Palsy and other brain injuries – he’s planning on trialling and winning a spot on the Disability Soccer Nationals team in October this year which could see him eventually going to the Paralympics if all goes well,” Matt said.
