Kiwi champ Rachel 'CLIMBING HEALS MY PAIN'

As she recovers from surgery, the Whanganui amputee's sights are set on reaching new heights

- Suzanne McFadden

There are days when Rachel Māia feels euphoric – alive after reaching the top of a challenging climbing wall. Then there are days when the 43-year-old rocks back and forth on her bathroom floor, crying through “extraordinary” pain.

Right now, New Zealand’s top para climber is somewhere between these extremes – recovering from her 22nd operation and dreaming of scaling the heights at the Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028.

A below-the-knee amputee, Rachel’s constantly managing the physical and mental fallout of chronic pain, an ongoing consequence of a climbing accident in her teens, where she broke both ankles.

But climbing is “life-giving” for the mum of three, who has set her sights on competing when para climbing makes its Paralympics debut in LA.

“When you climb, you’re regulating your breath and you’re problem solving,” she says. “It’s a place where I feel safe, my pain is quieter and there’s more light in my day.”

When Woman’s Day catches up with Rachel, she’s at home in Whanganui, mending following surgery on her right ankle 26 years after that bouldering accident at a school climbing competition changed her life.