Niketa Wells - International Taekwon-do Federation of New Zealand

FEATURENIKETA WELLS – UNLIKELY STAR OF THE ITF WORLD CUPBy Master Paul McPhail VII danAfter the Gold Medal was put around her neck, New ZealandCoach Mr Steve Pellow was invited to explain to the entirearena what a remarkable story had just taken place.He explained that only months earlier Niketa was wheelchair bound,unable to walk or even stand. What transpired over the months leading upto the World Cup would (and should) make a great movie. She was going tothe World Cup no matter what. And she ended up winning it!Niketa Wells is a remarkable girl.In 2011 Niketa was struck down withReflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD),now more commonly known as ComplexRegional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). By theend of 2011 she was unable to walk,confined to a wheelchair and in constantpain. New Zealand’s leading pain specialisttold her to forget about using her feetever again.Niketa is a 1st gup at Paul M Papakura,former student of Mr Phil Dunn at Waiuku,and before that with Dan Jackson at Paul MWaiau Pa. She competed for New Zealandin Australia just prior to being struck downwith RSD, and had done well at manyRegional and National events.It was through her incredible mentaltoughness and perseverance, that shewas able to beat the condition, return totraining, and ultimately take Gold at the ITFWorld Cup in Brighton. By the time youread this, she would have tested for her 1stdegree black belt.Niketa was in a bad way by the end of2011. I recall seeing her and her Mum at ashopping centre just before Christmas andI could see the immense stress and worryin her Mum’s eyes. Niketa was in her wheelchair – still perky and happy. I vowed thento try and do more to help.We started private sessions early 2012and it was great to see she had seen someimprovement from December. She hadeven managed to attend some holidaytraining sessions on her crutches. Becausethe pain was now mainly in her lower limbs,she could actually do much of the session,including patterns by using her crutchesand also down on her knees. This would bequite painful at times and also must havetaken a lot of courage. This is how she alsoattended our National Camp in March thisyear (see photo in last issue of TKD Talk).Our weekend sessions were done at myhome with no spectators. Even Niketa’sMum or Dad were sent off to the localcafe for an hour while we trained. This is theNiketa wanted it and worked well.From talking to her parents I was interested(and dismayed) to note that her specialistsContinued from page 1:From then on, Niketa loss theuse of her legs. Walking was nota possibility due to the pain andshe spent weeks at home, undergoingphysiotherapy fromher wheelchair. During thistime, they were told during onof the many visits to the doctorthat the family were told to preparefor the worst, which wasNiketa may never use her feetagain.“It got to the stage wherewe couldn’t do it at home anymore.Niketa was in such pain.We went back into hospital andwere then transferred into theWilson Centre, a rehabilitationunit for children,” says Pip.Niketa and Pip moved intothe Wilson Centre for sevenmonths, where Niketa undertookphysiotherapy three timesa day, something she describesas absolute agony.“I had to try and mentallyblock the pain. Even though Iwas on medication to help easeit, the pain was still there. I evensaid to my mum and the doctor,‘Would it help if you just amputatedmy legs?’ I just wantedthe pain to go away,” explainsNiketa.“But I had to keep positive.And it was when I received aletter from Grand Master Lan,a Taekwondo World Championbased in Germany, saying hebelieved that I could beat thisand that I was a fighter, that Istarted to push myself.”Niketa says that while thephysiotherapy helped, it wasreally her instructor, MasterPaul McPhail of Papakura, whoreally helped her begin walkingagain.While she was still in herwheelchair, Niketa still participatedat Taekwondo training,with her goal always set in theback of her mind - to competein the Brighton World Cup inEngland in October and MasterMcPhail was there supportingher through the whole process.By Christmas last year, Niketahad progressed onto crutchesand had began preparing hertraining schedule for her blackbelt.But as Niketa progressed andbegan controlling the pain,Pip started researching theoutcomes of people who havesuffered from RSD and wasshocked to find that successcases were very limited.“Niketa had just come so far,and the more she progressed,the more we found out howlimited success stories of RSDwere.“In most cases, the RSD hadbecome irreversible, and thepatients had to live with it forthe rest of their lives. Now thatwas hard at the time, thinkingof that possibility.”Pip explained that the raresyndrome just doesn’t affectthe children, but the parents aswell.“The financial burden that ison these parents with childrenaffected by RSD was huge, I hadto give up my job and care forNiketa full time. Not only that,the children just can’t see thebig picture. They want a quickfix, like Niketa, wanting her legsamputated just to remove thepain then and there, but notthinking about how that actionis going to affect her later in life.It was really, really hard.”For Niketa, the hardest thingfor her was going from being anoutdoor person, who loved tobe active, to teaching herself towalk again.“But through the supportfrom my instructor, my familyand the RSD specialists, I learntnot to underestimate the truediscipline of thinking.”While it has taken Niketawell over a year to learn to walkagain, she still says she hasn’tfully recovered yet and theremay be a chance that the RSDmay come back.“I still get a bit of pain in myright leg and the doctors saythey don’t actually know whatcauses RSD and it might comeback during any stage of mylife. It is hard to know that butwe are working through it,” saysNiketa.Pip and Niketa would like tothank the community for theirhad not explored aspects of nutrition. Sofrom early on I had Niketa start takingsupplements including coconut, fish oiland vitamin D.The training sessions were very casual, andNiketa would chat away about her weekor what was happening in her life. Althoughcasual, there we many times in the hourwhere she would be in great pain and haveto push hard to achieve the goals I set her.In the first few sessions in particular shewould be crying, and she showed incrediblecourage.I recall on the first session with Niketa shewas still on two crutches - but at least outof her wheelchair.We began by trying to stand in a parallelready stance. My plan was to do somebasic punching, however I quickly realisedNiketa could not stand on her own, letalone perform movements.Nikita beats the odds - with supportsupport from the time Niketawas diagnosed up until now.“It was absolutely amazing.The support enabled us to helpcontinue on with Niketa andget us to where we are today.And huge thanks to MasterMcPhail and for the only twospecialists who work with RSDaffected children in the wholeof New Zealand, we are just reallygrateful,” says Pip.And for Niketa, she hopesthat her story will inspire othersto not give up, to keep pushingtheir way through the painand to keep thinking positively.“It was very hard, but I nevergive up. And I believe if I canlearn to walk again, then otherchildren have a fair chance atmaking through RSD too.”Above: While she was contained in her wheelchair, Niketa Wells stillparticipated at Taekwondo training, with her goal always set in theback of her mind - to compete in the Brighton World Cup.26TAEKWON-DO TALK MAGAZINE