One-handed inspiration on show
Competitive woodchopping is a tough sport, relying on strength, accuracy and style.
Various styles were on show at this year’s Canterbury A&P Show in Christchurch, which finished at the weekend, but none quite like Nick Fredriksen.
The 31-year-old Australian is believed to be the world’s only onearmed competitive axeman.
‘‘It’s taken me a long time to get to the level I’m at now; when I was growing up I could never win an event,’’ he said.
He won first place in the sixth division underhand competition at the Canterbury show, where competitors stand on the log and cut between their feet.
‘‘I haven’t been as successful this year [in Canterbury] as I have been in the last two years here,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s the same timber as previous years, but this has sat around a bit longer so it’s a lot tighter than the timber we used in previous years.’’
Fredriksen travelled to New Zealand to compete in A&P Shows in Nelson, Blenheim and Christchurch.
When he was 8 years old, he lost his arm in a hay-bailer accident on the family farm.
‘‘It was on a family property at home, and I got caught by the PTO [power take off] shaft on a hay bailer. It caught the end of my shirt and pulled me in.’’
He remained conscious throughout the ordeal, unaware he had lost his arm until he heard his father on the phone to the ambulance officer.
‘‘When your body goes through that much trauma, you go into shock and don’t feel a thing.’’
Less than two years later, Fredriksen was competing in the boys’ woodchopping competition as a one-armed 10-year-old, fulfilling an inevitable destiny.
‘‘My father was a woodchopper, so he always dragged us around the shows.’’ - Fairfax NZ