Dan Buckingham

Dan Buckingham (born 25 September 1980) is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks. He works as Digital Producer for TV Production Company Attitude.

Early life

Dan was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, and grew up in rural Southland. He is the youngest of 3 siblings.

He was educated at St Kevin's College (1994–96) and Verdon College (1997-98) where he captained the schools First XV rugby team.

In 1999 while attending Otago University he sustained a fracture dislocation to his C6/7 vertebrae while playing club rugby, resulting in paralysis from the chest down, with some loss of function to his hands.

He completed his rehabilitation at Burwood hospital, where he learned to use a manual wheelchair for mobility.

Domestic wheelchair rugby

Dan began training with the Canterbury wheelchair rugby team while still in the Burwood hospital spinal injury rehabilitation unit in 1999.

While living in Dunedin he continued to play for Canterbury in 2000, and played his first Nationals tournament for the province that year.

He moved to Christchurch in 2001, and continued to play for the club until 2007.

In 2008 Dan began playing for Auckland after moving to the city at the end of 2007. He is still currently playing for the club, and began coaching the team at the end of 2014.

International wheelchair rugby

Dan first made the New Zealand team in 2001, playing a 5 test series against Australia for the Chris Handy Cup, held in Christchurch.

He has competed in four World Championships: Gothenburg 2002, Christchurch 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Odense 2014. He was part of the team that won Silver at the Christchurch 2006 World Championships; the Wheel Blacks lost to the USA in the final.

He competed as part of the Wheel Blacks in the 2004 Summer Paralympics where they won the gold medal, as well as the 2008 Summer Paralympics where they finished 5th.^[1]

Dan captained the Wheel Blacks from 2007 - 2013.

Dan has also competed for domestic clubs internationally, including Victoria in Australia, Denver and Lakeshore in the USA, and Quebec in Canada.

Education

Dan attended boarding school at St Kevin's College in Oamaru from 1994–96, before changing to Verdon College for his final two years from 1997-98.

In 1999 he began studying to be a Surveyor through Otago University, but his studies were cut short when he broke his neck playing rugby in August of that year.

He returned to Otago and completed a Certificate in Fitness Management.

In 2003 Dan began a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbury. He studied part-time while training and competing internationally in wheelchair rugby, and completed the degree at the end of 2006.

Career

In 2008 Dan began working for Attitude as a researcher and presenter. He became Associate Producer in 2011, overseeing post-production.

At the end of 2012 he left the company, but returned in May 2013 to help launch the company's digital arm, AttitudeLive.

In 2014 Dan was appointed to the Auckland City Council Disability Advisory Panel.

References