2000 entrants swam, biked and ran around Mountfort Park in the first of 11 Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlons. Video / Michael Craig
Eight-year-old Rocco Green, born with cerebral palsy, is set to tackle a triathlon in Hastings this Wednesday.
After surgery in the US last year, Rocco can now walk unaided and has been training hard with his father Kane.
Kane credits the surgery and community support for enabling his son’s athletic journey.
A gutsy and determined 8-year-old Hawke’s Bay athlete has gone from having to walk with a Zimmer frame to tackling a triathlon.
Rocco Green was born prematurely at 32 weeks and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 16 months, presenting as spastic diplegia.
This meant he had tightness in his leg muscles and needed walking aids.
After travelling to the USA last year for Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, which cuts sensory nerves in the spinal cord to reduce leg stiffness in children with cerebral palsy, Rocco was able to walk unaided for the first time.
Now, the sports-mad boy - who’s tried everything from skateboarding to horse riding, rugby, and breakdancing - is ready to take on the Weet-Bix TRYathlon this Wednesday at Mitre 10 Park in Hastings.
Rocco wanted to compete in the triathlon “because it seemed like a lot of fun” and he has been training hard and eating at least two Weet-Bix “every morning”.
Rocco’s dad Kane said the idea to compete in the triathlon came from one of Rocco’s physios, who had run the race previously with another client with cerebral palsy.
“We asked him if he wanted to do it and he was like ‘Hell yeah’,” Kane said.
“If you’re having a bad day, you just look at him and he’s always smiling, so there’s no point in being down.”
Rocco and Kane Green training for the triathlon. Photo / Ashlee Green
Kane says he never would have thought Rocco would be able to compete in a triathlon until he had the SDR surgery in the US.
“We hoped he would walk but you never thought he would when you saw him in his Zimmer frame, he never walked without it,” Kane said.
“But after that surgery he left the past behind and is looking to the future, and it’s getting better, always, every day.
“I’d just like to say thanks to everyone that helped Rocco get to America, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them and his physios, Karen and Ginny.”
Rocco’s training for the event has included four-to-six-kilometre bike rides, walks, and swims at the pools to help his kicking technique.
Rocco describes his training regime as hard and “really hot”, but he is looking forward to breaking out some special moves when he completes the course.
“I’m going to be breakdancing over the finish line,” Rocco said.
Rocco reckons this triathlon is just the start of his burgeoning athletic career.
“I want to play halfback, I’m a good passer,” he said.
“But I would be good on the wing too because the wingers are the ones that mostly get the tries.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
