Sunshine chiropractor Dr Peter Mitrevski has treated Brimbank residents for 20 years. But, as he tells Ben Cameron, this doc with a magic touch has also helped some famous sports stars reach peak performance, not least Sachin Tendulkar.
How long have you been connected with Brimbank?
I grew up in Taylors Lakes as a kid; I’ve practised in Sunshine in the one location for 20 years now. We just had our 20-year anniversary so we’ve been serving our community very proudly for a long time.
Who’s been your longest-standing patient?
We’ve got people we’re still seeing since our first year, who still come in for their occasional check-up. We’ve seen kids in their primary school years, and now they’re married with families.
What are your special memories of growing up in Brimbank?
My memories are of coming home from school, throwing the bag down and going out to play sport on the street or soccer in the local park with the neighbourhood kids. You’d jump over the side fence and you were in the park. It was such a pleasant area to grow up in. There was a lot more freedom in those days. Now, we certainly constrain our kids a lot more. I’ve got three of my own and I certainly don’t give them the freedom I had growing up.
Did you have early aspiration to work in this field?
I saw a chiropractor for a knee injury that no other doctor seemed to be able to help me with. I was able to go back to playing sport after I saw this chiropractor –
that inspired me to one day become one myself. I’d been told to rest and let it heal, but you can’t tell that to an eight-year-old who wants to keep playing. That’s what triggered my interest.
You’ve treated both the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams. How did that come about?
I’ve always had an interest in looking after sports people. I started seeing the [touring] Indian cricket team by invitation in 1999. They had an Australian physiotherapist from Adelaide, who invited me to examine Sachin Tendulkar’s lower back. We got some good results and then I saw Rahul Dravid, and the rest of the side followed. Every time they toured Australia, they’d get in touch with me from a chiropractic point of view.
Tendulkar made a century in that Melbourne Test of 1999 – you must have really weaved your magic?
I was quite torn in the change rooms because they arrived four days before the Boxing Day Test. I saw him every day at the Hilton Hotel before the Test and every day through the Test. I was a little bit torn because I was going for Australia, quietly, in the Indian change rooms. But it turned out to be a win-win because Sachin got a 50 and a hundred and was voted man of the match, but Australia won the Test. That made me happy, I got to help one of the legends of the game.
You treated the Pakistani team the next year?
That led to the World Eleven out here [in 2005] … I’ve looked after people like [Brian] Lara, [Muttiah] Muralitharan. With batsmen, a lot of the time it was back pain and elbows. Sachin not only had back pain but elbow issues. The bowlers used to present with shoulder and neck pain. I also worked at the Sydney Olympics with some gold medallists and, in recent times, with some A-League players from Melbourne Victory.
Who was one of the Olympians you treated?
Konstantinos Kenteris, who won the gold medal in the 200-metre sprint at the 2000 Olympics. I was working with a few track teams, including the Greek team. I wasn’t working with any particular country, but freelancing. I’ve got a newspaper article, which he signed for me – he beat nine other guys. They invited me to go to the Athens Games four years later. I didn’t go because we’d just got married and had a baby. Kon was meant to be the flag-bearer, but got kicked out of the Olympics for avoiding drug testing.
Amazing story
I guess the story is [about] a kid from the western suburbs who got to treat some of the world champions.
