Darren Collins is a coach like no other.
He’s an athlete who has achieved an admirable sport/life balance after identifying that the party-boy life was proving incredibly destructive not only for him, but for others he cared about. After losing his leg as the result of a sickening football tackle in 1999, Darren or Daz as he is known to the world turned to serious self destructive behaviour to cope with the pain. Before long his life was spiralling out of control. When he hit rock-bottom, with fading self-belief and high levels of anxiety, things didn’t look at all promising.
Teetering on the brink of disaster, he finally realised he needed to take control of his life. Included in his transformation was a huge move to Australia from the UK.
Gradually developing resilience and tenacity, he soon established many positive habits, and with them came the turnaround he was seeking. Through his love of sport he found the desire to fight, joining a local martial arts club and training as a Paralympic hopeful. With the will to make a change in his life and empower others to do the same, Daz applied himself to coaching. He now lives with real purpose.
After gradually eliminating unhelpful impediments from his life and discovering his true desire to grow through challenging himself, Daz is now in training for his toughest challenge yet, the gruelling 21-kilometre Spartan Beast extreme obstacle race to be held in Bright later in the year. He has also committed to running his first full marathon in 2017. When not training, he spends much of his time working as a life-coach, helping individuals to be the person they want to be. Daz also has a solid corporate background having worked as a senior accountant for nearly 20 years prior to his recent career change. Daz still works part-time as a Chief Financial Officer for a non-profit statutory authority.
With knockout good looks, Daz has become one of Australia’s most sought-after male amputee models, and has also featured regularly in international campaigns.
Through his incredible story and honest examination of his own disposition, this father-of-two and popular motivational speaker has helped countless audiences take the next step to a better quality of life.
