‘Make the most out of life’: Meet the NZ golf champion with a story to tell

Christies Flooring All Abilities Mt Maunganui Golf Open, Mt Maunganui Golf Club, Tauranga, Saturday 24 September 2022. Photo: Simon Watts /www.bwmedia.co.nz

Jason Eade is facing a downhill left-to-right putt to win the championship.

It’s a pressure moment, but truth be told the Wellington golfer has faced and overcome much tougher moments than this one in his life.

“Being a national champion means more to me now that I’m getting a bit older and I’m still able to beat the young fellas,” says the 54-year-old.

“My drive is for the next generation to see someone like me with a disability. I’ve had my challenges, but I’ve also had some great experiences. I want them to see the opportunities and make the most out of life.”

Eade won the NZ Disability Golf Championship in 2022. He will be one of the players to beat at the New Zealand All Abilities Championship this weekend at Windross Farm Golf Club in Auckland.

The event is an official world ranking event with 24 New Zealanders and six Australians competing for the national title.

“I love this event,” says Eade, who has played competitive golf all over the world.

“To play against other golfers who have a disability or special needs has been incredible.

“I will support it for as long as I can. It has shown the wider community that there are so many more people who can play golf and that it is game for everyone.”

Christies Flooring All Abilities Mt Maunganui Golf Open, Mt Maunganui Golf Club, Tauranga, Saturday 24 September 2022. Photo: Simon Watts /www.bwmedia.co.nz

Emily Davidson, the Participation and Inclusion Manager at Golf NZ, says the All Abilities is a special event.

“It’s more than golf,” she says. “For the players it’s a time to connect, have fun, meet new friends and inspire others that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Eade adds: “Of course, we all want to win and it’s a great battle. But on the 19th hole it is great to meet people and hear their story.”

Eade has a hell of a story to share himself.

Back in 1991, he was riding his motorbike near Kaiapoi, north of Canterbury. It was a cool, early Autumn afternoon and the sun was low in the sky. He came around a corner and was blinded by sunstrike.

When his vision came clear, he was heading straight for a lamppost.

“I had to make a split-second decision and I used my boxing skills to duck,” he says.

“If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t be here to tell the story.”

Eade hit the lamppost with incredible force. His left leg came off at the knee.

The 22-year-old was lying on the side of the road in a state of shock. A bystander made a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

“They saved my life,” he says.

Twenty minutes later, Eade was on his way to Christchurch Hospital in an ambulance.

That night he was told by the doctors that they would remove his leg from above the knee because the crash had caused too much damage.

Eade had an amputated left leg, his right leg was badly broken, but he didn’t have any internal damage.

“I remember lying in the hospital bed and thinking, ‘Man I am lucky to be alive’”.

Eade was a national rep in boxing and was preparing to compete at the 1992 Olympics.

“It was a big change in my life. At the time I was pretty despondent,” he says.

“I had no idea what life would hold for me. I had to learn what life was like with a physical disability. I had to start again.”

Eade had a long road to recovery, and he fully committed himself to his rehab.

He learned how to walk again. And also had to overcome some mental battles.

“I had concerns, [like] ‘How are people going to perceive me? What are they going to think of me as a person with a disability?’. As you get older, you realise that all of that stuff doesn’t matter.”

Jason Eade at work at the Intercontinental – Credit Ezra McDonald / ACC.

Eade says ACC has been at the heart of his recovery.

“ACC has been on the journey the whole way with me,” he says. “They have supported me in every way, and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

The government agency has covered his medical costs, home modifications, car modifications, rehab, and transport, and provided a state-of-the-art prosthetic leg which helps him in his golf.

He tried wheelchair tennis and rugby but says: “I found it unusual taking my leg off and sitting in a wheelchair to play sport.”

He moved to Wellington in 1999 and attended a work Ambrose golf tournament in 2007. It proved to be a turning point.

“I hit a couple of really good shots and thought to myself, ‘I can do this’,” he says. “I went away and taught myself how to play.”

Eade now plays off a 10 handicap at the Royal Wellington Golf Club. He plays both days every weekend.

His best score is an even par 72 at the Manor Park Golf Club where he was a member for many years and had a hole in one.

“I love golf because you will never master it. But that’s the same with life, isn’t it?”

Away from the course, Eade has worked at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington for 23 years.

He started as a porter and is now the chief concierge, managing a team of 12 people. He was recognised internationally, twice winning an HM Award for hotel and accommodation excellence.

“My desire is to be the best concierge team in New Zealand,” he says. “My young team are coming with me along the way.”

Eade says it was always important for him to work and be part of his community.

“The team here have been very supportive of me,” he says. “It’s a tough industry to work in with a disability. You are on your feet all day. But I never want to make excuses.”

He has simple advice for others who have sustained a life-changing injury.

“You have a personal responsibility to yourself to keep living. You only get one shot at this thing called life and you have got to give it the best you can.

“When you get older like me, you don’t want to look back on lost years. You look back and you think, ‘What a waste’. Make the most of every day and enjoy it.”