Boarding & Fitness for Life with Mac Rosen

Saturday. 7th May. 2016. Competition Time. That one day changed my life forever.

I was doing something I had performed 1000’s of times before, and it all came out wrong… I just didn’t know how wrong it was going to get.

Wednesday. May 11th. 2016. I awoke during surgery and felt something cutting through the bone in my leg. It turned out to be the most horrendous pain and emotional sense of overwhelm in my life.

Many people still do not know what actually happened, can you explain what was going on at the time of the accident and what was going through your head. I just went up in the air too high and landed on a straight leg… I just heard It snap. I reached down to feel my leg and realized it wasn’t good. I already did about 70% of the run and only had two tricks left… I guess I was just over excited and did a different trick to what I was planning … and it came out wrong. When I fell no one really realized it was serious but then people just rushed into the water to get me out… All the kIds and boys that I coach were the first ones to jump in to help me.

How high in air were you? I don’t know… It was pretty high. High enough to get massive trauma like that…

I heard you were all ready winning.. was this going to be the last trick of the contest? I felt like I was pretty much on the top of the score board, but the last two tricks didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to be.

In hospital what thoughts were going through your head? I didn’t really understand what was going on because I was on so many different medications, but deep inside I knew I wanted to come back stronger. They were rough days, sometimes I felt like I didn’t want to do anything or go anywhere, but just lay down on the hospital bed… cause that’s all I could really do, but I always worked to stay positive and knew I needed to do my best to come back stronger.

What coping mechanisms helped at this time? What really helped me to cope was the support I got from everyone; family, friends and everybody else. I guess I just wanted to prove that I can come back, at least to try to come back and I knew I would do it not just for myself but also for everyone who supported me.

Hayden visited you In BKK – what did you talk about? When I just lost my leg I was thinking of someone who could help me to come back stronger and then I thought of Hayden, because I trained with him before for AsIan Beach Games, and then Hayden just came to visit me. We talked about mental stuff; he explained that if I want to be strong physically I also need to be strong in my mind. A few weeks after out from hospital, I went to RPM Health Club and Hayden and all the crew there helped me a lot. He’s like a brother to me.

You mentioned to Hayden that you had to get back on your board – Is that a big motivator? It is… And it’s not an easy one. I have to work a lot harder to exercise and I need to get used to moving slower! Getting my fitness, strength and mental confidence back to do what I love, helps me to keep going. If not this dream, I don’t know what I would do.

There are video’s of you training in hospital. Is exercise and fitness Important? Super Important. For me exercising is like pain relief, I forget about pain and enjoy working out and exercising every-time. I still have pain everyday but working out helps me to not think about it and make me stronger both mentally and physically, I want to keep going.

Confidence & Mind Body Strength Work at REBEL Rock Climbing with Surf Training Secrets

What does exercise and fitness do for your brain, moods & energy? I enjoy feeling strong and looking strong, I don’t really want people to look down and think that I can’t do something just because I have one leg. Life just goes on, with a leg or without It… exercising makes me believe that anything is possible.

The mental and emotional sides of an accident like this can be pretty rough. How low did you go and how did you come out so strong? I feel like it still might be going… even though I’m trying to come back to my normal life, It’s just not the same anymore. I always think about doing what I really want to do when I ride, going up In the air and just running around. But I’m still alive; I guess that’s good… When I arrived to Bangkok in the ambulance mom thought I died.

Do you still have ‘low’ days? What do you do to pull yourself out of a mental funk? Well… I exercise. That’s the only way to make myself feel better. I go to RPM Health Club, play basketball, go swimming and even enjoy REBEL Rock Climbing. I try to do anything that is physical activity. I like moving around.

It’s been a very long process to simply walk again, you have had a few prosthetic limbs, how are you doing on the board now? Riding didn’t go as hard as I thought It would, but to be able to do things I was doing before will take time. I try not to think that it’s Impossible, but sometimes it’s hard to avoid thoughts like that. I aim to ride everyday though.

People forget you have to go to hospital frequently, how often do you visit and what goes on? My remaining leg shrinks every few months and the socket has to be adjusted with time. Right now I’m using a better prosthetic leg then the first one I got for walking, however I did a lot of research and there are really good ones that could help me to be as comfortable with my body as I was before, but the really good ones are the really pricey ones, they could go up to millions of Thai Baht.

A new all round prosthetic leg Is the goal right? Why Is this so Important for your life and how much Is It? I already got a sport leg for riding, Its Moto knee from BIoDapt which I think Is one of the best legs I could get for what I want to do (Professional Wake-boarding). However having a good leg for day to day use would change my life. My hips wouldn’t hike up and affect my back, I could walk smoother, move smoother, uno… just be smoother all round! Hayden’s helping collect sponsorship money to go towards that fund. It’s really pricey. Without ongoing medical costs it’s about US $100,000 just for the leg… That’s A LOT of Thai Baht. Of course visiting the hospital regularly is on-going for me now too. Life has dramatically changed.

We all have adversity in our lives, what Is your current perspective of what happened and your future goals? Everything just changed completely.. Right now I have to start from the bottom to become good at something. In the future I want to try other things, like sky diving or anything that has to do with being active. Currently I’m working out on street exercising, which seems to be really good for the body, difficult but fun.

Wake boarding, surfing, skating…. riding a board in general is an incredible lifestyle, Is wake boarding like medicine to you? … Just being on the water and staying active makes me forget about everything else. After I ride I feel more calm and relaxed, enjoying life.

AnythIng else you would lIke to add?…  Hi to all my friends, followers and sponsors, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love, help and support. No words can describe how grateful and thankful I am to have all the people I have around me. To everybody who’s been there for me – without all of you I wouldn’t have made it so far – Thank you. Also, Thank You to RPM Health Club, Anthem Wake-Park, REBEL Rock Climbing, Thai Wakepark and PhurIwat Phattranonarnan, Teddy Fagerstrom and the team, and everyone who supported me in any way… . I really do appreciate all the help and support.

For those who are willing to donate, here is the donation account information:
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB)
Mackinthai Thomas Rosen
Account #: 601 402070 5
Swift code : SICOTHBK

(Please leave your name in the description area on your transaction, so I know who to thank)

Surf Training Secrets & Surfing Fitness with Mac Rosen