“I Found a Way Back”: Dan’s Remarkable Return to Competition Through Judo
June 03, 2026
For Dan Featherstone, sport has always been part of who he is.
Growing up in North Devon, rugby was more than just a game — “as close to religion as a sport can get,” as he describes it. His playing career took him across the UK and around the world, including spells in South Africa and Fiji, and even opportunities to earn money playing the sport he loved.
But in 2007, everything changed.
During what would unknowingly become his final match, Dan suffered a serious neck injury caused by a collapsed scrum. MRI scans later revealed severe prolapsed discs between his C5 and C6 vertebrae, with one disc pressing into his spinal cord and another paralysing his right bicep.
“Following MRI scans and time with spinal surgeons, I was told I was lucky I could still walk,” Dan explained.
A small operation and treatment helped restore movement in his arm, but Dan made the difficult decision to step away from playing rugby for good. Instead, he turned his attention to coaching — remaining connected to the sport, but leaving behind the physical competition he had always thrived on.
Seventeen years later, an unexpected opportunity would change everything.
In 2024, the junior rugby side Dan coached was invited to attend adapted judo sessions at Pinewood Judo Club, led by coaches Adam Castle, Karen Roberts and Olympian Ben Fletcher.
“As a sportsman I was blown away,” Dan said. “The huge physical improvements we saw across all players, how much fun it was, but also the level of coaching and the individuals involved — it was genuinely inspiring.”
Watching from the side of the mat stirred something deeper too.
“It made me realise what I was missing in my life — that physical battle, one-on-one competition, trying to physically beat somebody. I hadn’t done that in 17 years.”
After mentioning that he wished he could do something similar again, but assumed his neck injury made it impossible, Adam Castle offered him a simple challenge:
“Come down. I’ll train with you and I promise not to put you on your head.”
Dan borrowed a judogi and attended his first session that same Thursday.
“That first newaza randori, I’ll never forget that moment,” he recalled. “The adrenaline, the dry mouth, my energy instantly melting away, my heart thumping out of my chest — doing all I could to try and beat the bloke opposite me.”
He left exhausted, bruised and aching — but completely hooked.
“What surprised me most was what it did for my neck injury.”
At first, training left his neck fatigued and sore, but within weeks Dan began noticing major improvements. The sleepless nights, pain, pins and needles and numbness he had lived with for nearly two decades gradually disappeared.
“I could sleep properly and I felt physically confident again.”
While Dan admits he may never fully understand the medical reasons behind the improvement, he believes the combination of regular exercise, strengthening, movement and increased confidence all played a part.
What began as curiosity quickly became commitment.
“Now I train twice a week at Pinewood simply because of the benefits it brings me.”
Alongside the physical improvements, judo brought other life-changing benefits too. Dan has lost more than 15 kilograms, learnt a completely new sport, made lasting friendships and found a new outlet for competitive energy. He even believes judo has made him a better rugby coach.
Then, in April 2026, came another milestone — his first ever judo competition. Competing as a 5th Kyu in the Under 100kg category at the Northern Home Counties Open and Don Werner Memorial Event, Dan fought his way to a bronze medal finish.
“Stepping out onto the mat for that first fight was a very special moment,” he said. “Scared, excited — pretty much every emotion wrapped into a single moment.”
For Dan, the medal meant far more than a podium finish.
“I had found a way back to physically competing after being told I was lucky that I could still walk.”
Nearly twenty years after his rugby career came to an abrupt end, judo gave him something he thought he had lost forever.
His message at the end of the journey is a simple one:
“Massive thank you to all the coaches and judoka at Pinewood for making this journey possible.”
