Auckland sprinter Mitch Joynt is on track for the paralympics in 2024. Photo: Jonty Dine
After suffering a gruesome woodchipper accident, 28-year-old amputee Mitch Joynt had to learn how to walk again.
However, the determined Aucklander went one better and is now the fastest para-sprinter in the country, with his eye on the 2024 Olympics.
The keen sportsman was working as an arborist in Mangawhai in 2013.
The then 17-year-old kicked some wood into the chipper but slipped on some gravel and his leg became trapped and started to pull him in.
Joynt heard the horrific crunch of his foot becoming mangled in the machine.
He says the pain was indescribable.
"You hope adrenaline takes the edge off of it, but it doesn't really, it was mulched up completely into tiny little pieces."
Having never coped well with blood, it was a traumatic sight for Joynt.
"I just took one quick look and had look away but obviously knew it was bad because most of my foot was gone."
A stroke of luck saw a doctor just four doors down provide some desperately needed morphine, but it did not quell the excruciating agony.
A rescue helicopter was called, but was diverted to a car crash, leaving Joynt lying for two hours on the side of the road.
"My crew did a really good job of sort of bandaging it up and I was elevated on a road cone."
He was conscious throughout.
"The morphine barely touched the sides when you have that level level of pain. So, I remember everything, you kind of just want to go to sleep so it's all over but there's a chance you don't wake up so they have to keep me awake the whole time. So, I have pretty vivid memories of the whole process."
When he finally arrived at hospital, the news he anticipated but still feared came.
"They said that day that cutting it off, halfway up the calf was the best option."
A lengthy rehabilitation followed.
Mitch Joynt lost his lower leg at just 18 years old. Photo: Jonty Dine
"I remember that was pretty difficult, the month following. The hardest part is definitely before you get your prosthetic and you're not really independent. Once I got my prosthetic I was it was a lot better because I was in control of the recovery a lot more. It's physically challenging and it's painful. But it's just got to be done."
Joynt refused to let the incident stop him from living the sporty life he had prior.
He dabbled in a few of his old sports including snowboarding but found his new limitations prevented him from achieving what he wanted.
"Especially with prosthetics. When you're first wearing them, you get a lot of blisters and to even walk on was hurting but that's real tough and covered in scars now."
After receiving a blade, he returned to what he knew best, long distance running.
"I was a long distance runner before I lost my leg so I actually initially did a marathon."
After completing the mammoth task, Joynt was convinced to shorten his running distance and soon found himself on the track in 2017.
"I pretty much went from 42km to 200 meters, so it's taken a lot of years to get those fast twitch fibers really working but I'm definitely faster than I've ever been in my life."
He went on to break the 200 metre New Zealand record in his first season of sprinting, the 100 metre in his second, and his ascent has been rapid ever since.
Joynt ran in the Dubai World Championships in 2019, finishing eighth and is now in full training mode ahead of the 2024 championships in Paris.
"It's always a bit of a stressful process qualifying because athletics is so cut and dry. It's the time you've got to run, there's no way around it but we got there. I had to run 23:48 and I ran 23:36 at Nationals."
The sprinting star says despite the difficult journey, he had no intention of lying down.
"Not recovering should never be an option. You really just have to sort of grit your teeth sometimes and push through and take it one day at a time but no wasn't an option."
Funding continues to be an issue for Joynt.
"I've got a couple of good little sponsors, GJ Gardner and Disability Sport Auckland, behind me but the trip and total is costing about 10 grand."
"I'm a very proud kiwi so any time I get to pull that black singlet on is a real treat. It's not something you take for granted. It doesn't happen that often. Especially in athletics, there's not that many pinnacle events you get to wear a black singlet for so every time you do, it is really special."
Mitch Joynt training at AUT Millennium institute in Albany. Photo: Jonty Dine
