Total Submission’s star kickboxer Dillon Opperman is back with a bang after having to sit out almost four months due to an injury.
The 13-year-old sustained a head injury in July while on holiday in Hekpoort.
He fell five metres from a tree that part where the impact on the right side of the scull had occurred was caved in.
Dillon had to spend two nights in Intensive Care Unit at Netcare Krugersdorp and had to undergo surgery to rectify his skull.
Kickboxer severely injured in fall
“After two weeks recovering in hospital and at home, I returned to school but I was not allowed to train. Watching the club members training and I had to sit on the sidelines was torture, it wasn’t fun at all. I wanted to join them and train as hard as they were,” he said.
However, after a few months of recuperation, Dillon returned to the sport he loves just in time for the November grading trials in Pretoria.
Here, his love, passion and talent for kickboxing shone as he was awarded his third black belt.
“I did well at grading, better than I thought I would. After my layoff, my sparring has progressed in leaps and bounds and I’m moving much better. I’m happy that I have my third black belt especially after the accident,” he said.
Dillon said being at home recovering did little for his six-pack and muscles which were starting to form shape.
“What I missed the most wasn’t the ring and competing per say, what I missed was the fitness training. The squats, push ups and sit-ups, the rock climbing and jumping jacks. That’s what I missed. While I had to sit at home I was getting fat but now I’m happy and my six-pack is slowly returning,” he said.
Dillon will now be attending grade 8 at Hoërskool Monument and is looking forward to this chapter in his life, however, his biggest goal this year is to excel at the Gauteng Championships.
“I can’t wait for school to start, it’s my first year of high school and it’s exciting. Everything is ready. When it comes to kickboxing, I’m aiming to do well at the championships. I’ve been training hard and competing against those who are better than me. This is so I can take the hard punches and fight right back. But I wont ever climb a tree again, I think,” he said.
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