Top poleaxe fighter arrives home
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
That sums up Dayna Berghan-Whyman’s whirlwind trip to Europe, fighting with her trusty poleaxe.
Upper Hutt’s BerghanWhyman is a medieval fighter, picking up weapons like swords and poleaxes to fight on the world stage.
She travelled to Italy to fight in the Battle of Nations which made headlines when 80 people were hospitalised during last month’s four-day event.
She then headed to Scone Palace, Scotland to compete in the International Medieval Combat Federation (IMCF) world championship.
‘‘It was definitely the best of trips and it was the worst of trips. It was either ‘I love this trip’ or ‘I want to go home’,’’ she said.
In Italy, Berghan-Whyman was hospitalised with a migraine. She tried telling medical staff she just needed some paracetamol but no dice.
She tried discharging herself from hospital, but was told she couldn’t unless she had some shoes.
‘‘Two nurses taped hair nets together with duct tape and I walked out, looking a bit like a homeless person,’’ BerghanWhyman said.
Berghan-Whyman found herself donning armour and competing in duels with both a longsword and her preferred weapon, the poleaxe. She also ended up jumping into an Anzac team for a five-on-five melee battle.
In a melee, she works on the team as a tank, soaking up hits and trying to trap her opposition. Runners on her team would work at a faster pace, trying to get hits in on other people while she distracted them.
After the event, BerghanWhyman and other members of the Kiwi delegation piled into a van - dubbed the ‘‘Battle Bus’’ - and making the 37-hour road trip to Scotland.
She competed at last year’s IMCF world championship in Denmark, but finished dead last - ninth out of nine competitors.
This year, she finished fifth - something she was absolutely stoked with.
‘‘After three days, my fighting was done. I normally do three tournaments a year in New Zealand. But in two weeks, I did six full days of fighting.’’
Along the way, she took a little stuffed toy cat. It was her way of keeping in touch with her autistic daughter, Freya. ‘‘Freya loves cats,’’ she said. She would send back photos of where she was with Lily the cat in them.
She said that meant Freya would immediately be interested in what was going on.