Dancer's career-ending injury leads to new vocation in physio

Nicholas Dominick and Kimiora Grey won the John Morris Trophy for best (equal) students in clinical practice. Here with Tony Westwood, Auckland Branch Physiotherapy NZ.

A knee injury that ended a promising dance career has turned into a career in physiotherapy.

Kimiora Grey suffered a career-ending knee injury requiring surgery and rehabilitation when she was in her final year of study at the New Zealand School of Dance.

So she decided to study body and movement a different way, enrolling in a physiotherapy course instead.

She ends her degree with the best overall grades for Clinical Practice in her Auckland University of Technology (AUT) University class.

"As a more mature student the experience has been less about socialising and more about absorbing every piece of information throughout the course," Grey said.

"I feel that, had I come straight out of college and into university I would have had a very different outcome to my current knowledge base."

Grey will graduate at a ceremony at the Aotea Centre on Thursday.

Next year she will work at a firm that specialises in helping patients recover from surgery.

Grey's ultimate career goal is to create a unique dance-specific rehabilitation programme.