My name is Dean Chen and I am a 21 year-old competitive powerlifter chasing a dream.

Unfortunately, in early 2015 I tore my right hip labrum whilst training for a competition. This injury is quite debilitating for a powerlifter as it becomes impossible to train or perform 2 out of the 3 core lifts (deadlift and squats). This past year has been spent trying to heal my hip naturally, but this has yielded no results. In fact, my physio and surgeon both believe that my hip will be unable to return to a competitive strength without surgery.

For me, powerlifting isn't just hitting the gym. It is a very close-knit community where your training partners are also some of your best friends. Combine that with my competitive drive and refusal to give up means that I will never be able to walk away from this sport. Yet to walk into training and see my friends make progress every day,  whilst all I can do is sit around and do nothing, can be quite crushing at times. 

In order to continue this passion of mine, I am currently trying to save up enough money for hip arthroscopy surgery (keyhole surgery), which costs upwards of $10,000 with a specialist surgeon. As a full-time student studying in University, I will have wasted over 2 years before I can even undertake this surgery if I try to save up with a part-time job, let alone the rehabilitation costs and retraining time needed afterwards.
Powerlifting might not be the biggest sport, but it is growing quickly and is definitely very competitive. The more time I spend on the sidelines, the less chance I will have to realise my dreams of representing Australia on the world stage.

My current goal is to be healthy in time for the Asia/Oceania Powerlifting championships held in December this year. For this to happen, I need to be able to afford surgery by the end of April/start of May.
Any support will go directly to paying for this operation, and enabling me to continue competing in this sport that I am so passionate about, with the end goal of wearing my country's colors on the world stage.

I appreciate all your kindness and generosity in helping me realise my dream.

Dean Chen