One second. That’s all it takes to change your life. A tragic car accident, the crunch of metal, a broken back. For the young Normie Eckard, who was set to be scouted for the Springboks, it was one second on Sept 24, 1997, that altered his entire life.
“I had an appointment the next day to meet 1995 rugby winning Springbok team member Hennie le Roux, Lions fullback Chris Dirks and the-then Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, who did all the scouting for rugby at University of Johannesburg where I was to take up a rugby scholarship the next year .
“Instead of meeting my heroes and having doors open for me, I was in a hospital fighting for my life after a fateful car crash.
“They were dark days. As an 18 year old who breathed, slept and ate rugby since age five, it was hard to accept that I now would have a life in a wheelchair.
“But I am a positive kind of person and have deep belief in Jesus Christ and that really is what saved me. I never feel out of my depth. I know with Him, I can do it all.
“The first four years after my accident were very tough and Sept 24 – Heritage Day – was a day for 20 years I couldn’t fully celebrate
“The accident left such a pain in my heart that I didn’t even watch rugby for years after. If it came on Tv, I turned it off, I couldn’t face it.
“But I am a man of my word. On the day of my accident my two rugby coaches, one from my primary school days and one from my high school, rushed to the hospital. I don’t know why I said it but I told my primary school coach I would come coach the youngsters there. It took me five years to fulfill my promise but I did it.”
But not before a dark night of the soul.
“Losing the ability to walk changes everything – emotionally, physically and psychologically. I had to redefine my self. The wheelchair teaches you a lot of things and you need to adapt.”
Five years after his accident, Eckard entered his primary school, Sanddrif Laerskool, where he went on to successfully coach youngsters.
That was many years ago, and today Eckard, 46, has achieved much.
He has represented North West in wheelchair rugby at the 2017 SA Wheelchair Rugby Championship, winning a silver medal. He also competed in fishing for Gauteng North, representing them in five SA Championships between 2018 and 2024, winning bronze in 2019. He will now also compete in a South African darts championship tournament in September, facing the country’s best players.
He also successfully coached rugby to youngsters, is an entrepreneur, started an NGO, and made it his mission to break glass ceilings of what you can do if you find yourself having a life in a wheelchair.
He has gone shark cage diving, jumped out of aeroplanes, gone scuba diving, played wheelchair rugby, and that is just the start.
“If I had to give an important piece of advice it would be: life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to that. Your attitude will always determine you altitude.
“I always tell youngsters if your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough. We get one life do something that excites you.
“Also try live for more than just yourself .There is no greater reward than making a difference in someone’s life.”
Eckard knows, as a well-known public speaker and motivator he has inspired many to reach their full potential.
“In the end, good times don’t make you. It is in the tough times when you are on a road you may not have chosen for yourself, where your character is formed.”
Watch this space!
