• Latest
  • Trending

Mad Mike: I was told I wouldn’t walk again

April 14, 2021

Zach Blincoe targets championship glory in second GR86 season

September 2, 2025

Drivers gearing up for 2025 Bathurst 1000

September 2, 2025
ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 30: Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 30, 2025 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202508300093 // Usage for editorial use only //

Red Bull’s Driver Dilemma: Hadjar emerges as contender while Tsunoda faces deadline

September 2, 2025
94 DUVAL Loic (fra), JAKOBSEN Malthe (dnk), Peugeot TotalEnergies, Peugeot 9X8 #94, Hypercar, action during the Rolex 6 Hours of Sao Paulo 2025, 5th round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, from July 11 to 13, 2025 on the Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil - Photo Fabrizio Boldoni / DPPI

Nick Cassidy joins Peugeot for 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship

September 2, 2025

Briscoe wins at Darlington as Van Gisbergen struggles to 32nd in brutal playoff opener

September 1, 2025

Callum Hedge out of race after heavy crash at Nashville Raceway

September 1, 2025

McLaughlin ends season on a high with podium finish as Newgarden wins thrilling Nashville finale

September 1, 2025

‘Not His Corner’: Lawson explains Dutch GP collision with Sainz

September 1, 2025

Piastri dominates Dutch GP as Hadjar secures maiden podium and Ferrari suffer double DNF in dramatic race

September 1, 2025

Lawson’s Dutch GP hopes shattered after clash with Sainz

September 1, 2025

Dixon Leads the Way: Kiwi qualifying highlights from the Music City Grand Prix

August 31, 2025
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
VelocityNews
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time updates on Kiwi drivers, events and much more!
Subscribe to New Alerts
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard
No Result
View All Result
VelocityNews
No Result
View All Result

Mad Mike: I was told I wouldn’t walk again

by Zane Shackleton
April 14, 2021
in Drifting, New Zealand, News
0

In 2002, ‘Mad Mike’ Whiddett was told he would never walk again.

Nearly two decades later and the Kiwi drift icon is lacing up the sneakers and participating in The Wings for Life World Run, which raises funds for vital spinal cord injury research.

Before discovering the world of drifting, Whiddett dedicated his time to mastering the art of freestyle motocross.

His last competitive ride was in 2002 at X Air, the New Zealand X Games. A hefty incident had Whiddett fracture four vertebrae in his spine.

Rushed to the hospital, Whiddett was then told by doctors that he would be paralysed from the waist down.

“I was so drugged up on morphine it didn’t really register initially and I was joking with my friends about making a go-kart for my wheelchair,” Whiddett said.

“I compressed and fractured four vertebrae, and ruptured disks in my back lost all feeling to my legs and was told that I wouldn’t walk again.

“Unlike a lot of others who experience spinal cord injury, I was very lucky. The next morning I woke up and felt pins and needles in my toes and yelled for the doctor.

“The doctor told me it was a one-in-a-million occurrence that I wasn’t paralysed from that injury.”

Since the accident, Whiddett has become one of motorsport’s most recognisable names, winning drift titles over in Asia and competing in events over in the United States.

He was 11-years-old when he got behind the wheel of a car for the first time, thrashing a beat-up Toyota Carolla around a friend’s farm paddock.

“When my friend’s brother wasn’t around we’d jump in his car and tear around the fields,” he said.

“We got told off by his Dad a few times for crashing through fences but it was a great training ground.”

As Whiddett got older, he and his friends lived the boy racer lifestyle, racing around deserted streets and forests.

“Whoever flipped it, crashed it or blew it up bought the next one. We did that for years.

“We went through a lot of cars, but we learnt so much. One of my mate’s uncles had this big gravel yard where we’d roast the hell out of our cars.

“That was where I learned about car control and driving sideways. I was always into rear-wheel-drive cars so I was drifting before I even knew what it was.”

The Wings for Life World Run is an annual fundraising event, which has people run for as long as they can around a set course before they are ‘caught’ by a chase car.

The Auckland event will be held on May 9.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.

error:
No Result
View All Result
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.