Impairment Information |
Origin of Impairment |
Acquired |
Classification |
SB-LL2 |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete |
Languages |
English, Finnish |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He began snowboarding in 1999 in the Messila ski resort in Finland. He got involved in Para snowboarding in 2013. |
Club / Team |
LHS Snowboarders: Finland |
General Interest |
Hobbies |
Cycling, going to the gym, jogging, bouldering. (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019) |
Most influential person in career |
His physiotherapist. (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019) |
Hero / Idol |
Finnish Para snowboarder Matti Suur-Hamari. (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"Never say never." (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019) |
Ambitions |
To win a medal at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019) |
Impairment |
His impairment is the result of hitting his head in a fall at a snowboarding contest in 2011. He was in a coma for two weeks and required a total of six operations during recovery. "I feel like I've grown up mentally because of this. I think I'm mentally someone in my thirties. I was without a third of my skull for six months. You could touch my brain. I had to learn to walk again. When the right side didn't work, it was frustrating at times. In the end, the will to live was what made me fight and the fact that I was told I was never going to be able to get on a snowboard again. I wanted to show everyone I could." (Athlete, 08 Jan 2019; yle.fi, 25 Dec 2014) |
