Mason Parr: The road to recovery

Mason Parr, NZMTBA Downhill Athlete.

Sport has a way of testing athletes before it rewards them. For Mason Parr, that test showed up mid-season, and there's still a road ahead before he's back on the bike.

When the season turned

It had been a big year for 16-year-old Mason up to that point - a National Championship title, a win at Oceania Continental Series Round 1 at Mt Hutt, and a Crankworx Whistler OG DH win on top of it. Then, back in December, Mason hit a tree and his shoulder dislocated, popping back in by itself. At the time it didn't seem like much. "It popped out and in by itself and I didn't really think much of it," he said. But later in the season, at Oceanias, he had a small slide out, put his arm out to catch himself, and it dislocated again - and this time it wasn't something to shake off.

A couple of dislocations this season meant Mason Parr's shoulder needed a bit more than time to sort itself out. Keyhole surgery to stitch the labrum back together, and it's now healing up before rehab kicks off at the six-week mark.

Every dislocation tears a bit of the labrum, the part of the shoulder that keeps it in place, and by the second dislocation, the joint wasn't stable anymore. Mason's since had keyhole surgery to stitch the labrum back together.

Rehab and recovery

Right now, the shoulder's healing, and at the six-week mark Mason gets the green light to start rehab. From there it's building strength and movement back up, session by session, working towards the surgeon's five-month timeline to get back on the bike.

It's not the part that gets photographed on the podium, but often it can be the part of sport that matters most. Rehab is where an athlete learns patience, and how to show up on the days when there's no crowd and no result to chase, just the work in front of them. That's where a lot of the real growth happens.

We're proud to be part of our athletes' journeys through all of it, not just the podiums. We were proud of Mason's wins this year, and we're just as proud to be alongside him for this challenge, because it's just as much a part of the journey as anything he does on the bike.

Follow along with Mason's recovery on his Instagram account here: @masonparr_.