Photos: Amalia Osborne
Maia Marshall-Amai is almost certainly the toughest female wheelchair rugby player in the world.
Until last year, she was the only woman in the New Zealand team, the Wheel Blacks, and she’s built a name for herself as a trailblazer for women in the sport. But health issues and surgeries mean she is still chasing her dream – to play at the Paralympics.
“It’s the ultimate goal and I’m going to keep playing until I achieve it,” says the softly spoken athlete, 36, who comes from a sporting family – her cousin is NRL star Benji Marshall.
“I nearly made it to the Tokyo Paralympics. I played at the trials, and the Wheel Blacks went, but I missed out because I had a bone infection that led to half my pelvis being removed and my right leg amputated. That meant I had to stop playing for a while.”
The infection, called osteomyelitis, led to Maia staying in hospital for six months, from December 2020 until the following June. Although she returned to her beloved sport as soon as possible, more operations followed.
“Doctors put metal rods in my back that were causing a lot of pain, so we removed them last October,” explains Maia, who lives in East Auckland. She spent another two weeks in hospital but was back training within a month.
“Things are much better now,” she tells. “Although I still get constant pain, at least I get proper sleep at night! The qualifying tournament for the Paris Paralympics was in March and I didn’t want to miss it!”
Although she made it to the trials, unfortunately the team didn’t qualify.
Facing so many obstacles, both physical and mental, would defeat most people. But when the Weekly meets Maia, it’s clear she isn’t most people.
At 18 months old, she suffered serious burns from a car fire. She grew up believing it was her fault, after being told she’d been playing with matches after her father left her asleep alone in the car for a few minutes.
Maya has lived with pain for most of her life due to her injuries.
“It hasn’t been easy,” shares Maia, who won the Courage in Sport award in 2014. “I don’t like looking at myself. I suffered from depression after my mum died from cancer in 2006 and there was nobody I felt comfortable around – until I met my carer, Letitia Butler, who’s become my best friend. It is difficult. Sometimes I think, ‘Why me?’ But then I realise that I’m still here and I’ve learned to be grateful.”
Following the fire, baby Maia stayed in hospital until she was five. Her school years were very disrupted, with weekly visits to Waikato Hospital with her mum from her hometown of Whakatāne.
“I missed a lot of school,” she tells. “My hair had burned off, so they’d inject my head to extend the skin and help my hair grow.”
She also suffered multiple complications, including a spinal infection that left her paralysed. Despite this, Maia never gave up.
“I was a bit of a terror as a kid – I wanted to try anything and do everything, especially if people told me I couldn’t. That always made me want to prove to them that I could. I’m still the same now.”
That can-do attitude was the catalyst for the determined athlete to pick up her first ball at a “have a go” sports day at her intermediate school in Whakatāne.
“When I was 12, I tried wheelchair basketball, which was the only sport available to me at the time. I really liked it and that’s when I realised I could be part of a sports team.”
With no local amenities, Maia learned how to play basketball at home with the help of family, including her mum’s brother Luke, 60.
“Uncle Luke had a basketball hoop, and he’d push me and make me try things I didn’t think I could do,” she recalls.
At 13, she made it into the Bay of Plenty wheelchair team. Then at 15, she began playing in the Under-19 and the Under-21 New Zealand basketball teams. It was during one of those basketball sessions in 2012 that a member of the Wheel Blacks saw her and suggested she try wheelchair rugby. She became a member of the elite New Zealand team in 2013.
“I love the contact!” she exclaims when we suggest she’s perhaps had enough pain for one lifetime. “I know it looks scary. There is pain when we play and afterwards once the adrenaline’s died down a bit, but it’s not as bad as it looks. And with rugby, I get to travel the world, which is cool.”
Maia’s regime includes lots of rehab. She works with a neurophysiotherapist who helps with her core, stability, strength and balance. She’s also busy being a mum to her niece, Kahzyilou, 13 – something else she didn’t think she’d be able to do until she did it.
“My sister was living in Australia but had got into some trouble. She couldn’t look after her two kids, Te Mauri, who was 11 at the time, and Kahzyilou, who was four,” explains Maia. “She contacted me and asked me to pick up my nephew. Then, while I was there, she asked me to take Kahzyilou as well.”
Taking on someone else’s children is hard for most able-bodied people, let alone someone with as many injuries as Maia, and at first the idea terrified her.
“here was no way I’d be able to take care of them, I thought. I cried all the way home when I brought them back with me, wondering how on earth I was going to be able to do it,” she admits.
“I had no idea how I was going to look after one child, let alone two. But I did it.”
Te Mauri now lives with his girlfriend in Whakatāne, and Kahzyilou still lives with Maia full-time and started high school this year.
“She’s just like most girls of that age – attitude, hormones, all of it,” says Maia fondly. “Girls are so much more dramatic than boys! But being a good role model for my nieces and nephews, and showing them they can be anything and do anything if they work hard for it – that’s what drives me to keep going and continue to get better.”
Many people would be forgiven for assuming Maia is fearless, but that’s far from the case. Although she’s undoubtedly brave, she’s also very shy.
“I have an amazing network of family and friends who help me. As they say, it takes a village,” she tells. “It took me ages to go to my first rugby training as I felt scared and nervous. I didn’t know anybody. But my carer at the time, Letitia, told me she’d come with me. She’d hold my hand and be right there with me. And I did it.”
And Maia has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
“I’ve still got a lot more to give and to do!” she laughs. “I still have to achieve my dream of playing at the Paralympics. I’ve made it to two trials, but I haven’t made it to the Games yet. I also want to encourage other females to try, to get involved and to play. There are two women in the Wheel Blacks now which is nice, but it’d be even better if there were more of us!”
And Maia has a message of courage for other less-abled Kiwi children.
“There are a lot more opportunities for kids in wheelchairs now than when I was a kid, so get out there and give it a go.”
Wheel Blacks: Bodies on the Line screens on Sky Open from Sunday, August 18 at 8.30pm. All episodes will also be available on Neon from this date.
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