September 21st, 2020Tradie Torque

He stopped while in year 11 when his parents divorced and never realised he had been offered a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport.
Will was also into BMX since childhood, training with the Victorian Institute of Sport at times, and taking part in plenty of races.
In 2012 he got back into sailing – hoping for the London Olympics – but his body wasn’t performing properly; he would later be diagnosed with a cyst which was causing his spinal cord to degenerate, so instead he designed and built a hydrofoil to try to make sailing a more feasible sport for all. That took four years and Will ended up with a Masters of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 2017.
“I sailed a little until 2015 and realised it was too hard to be an Aussie Olympian and was going to move to represent Malta, but my body wouldn’t perform for some reason. Then they found the cyst and I was told I would need a major operation.”
Will then moved to Daylesford “to seek refuge and relax” and while he loved the place he got involved doing small building projects under Artisan Projects as well as being the Hepburn Handyman.
He has helped renovate and fit out the Daylesford Steakhouse, making the dining table, even pouring beers. Clayfire Gallery displayed some of his furniture and he has also become involved with the Daylesford Foundation, a community-based philanthropic organisation helping people when needed.
“2018 was a tough year, learning the cyst in my neck was serious. To be honest, when something attacks your personal health so severely, COVID is a walk in the park compared to struggling to move.
“But it wasn’t done alone, some nice people up here, people you can count on like my 78-year-old neighbour Gill who will give you a mental tug-of-war to challenge even the most alert of minds. She was a real help early on, back when just a walk around the block was an achievement.
“And I have some great clients and friends who have helped my wife Mary and I feel at home here – Gill, Megan, Jen and John, Jane, Tim/Nicole, the crew at Home Hardware and the good people of the Hepburn Shire.
“So I guess it turns out not all the blow-ins from Melbourne are bad news after all. And last week I expressed interest in the Paralympic cycling team and someone interviewed me this week. Within a few weeks a physio will assess me. I may be trying to put in some good lap times over in Mt Buninyong at the National Road Race this coming February as a para-entrant. And the best part is, the future is unwritten. Bring it on.”
See Will’s advert in The Local’s Tradie pages