As Rewi Te Kani-Nankivell learns to live with his paralysis from the chest down, he says his priority is to give back to his community and others in situations like his.

The 16-year-old from Ormond is heading into his final year of school at Gisborne’s Campion College as a prefect and student representative for the board of trustees, a year and a half on from the tragic accident that took the life of his mother, Midge Te Kani.

At his side on his journey have been his father, Rewi Nankivell, and older sister Jacqueline, along with the wider whānau and the school community.

The crash on Matawai Rd (SH2) in Otoko on September 4, 2024, left Te Kani-Nankivell with injuries to his spinal cord at the C6 and C7 level, which caused paralysis from his chest down.

“If I can put an emphasis on one word, I think challenging would definitely be the right word,” Te Kani-Nankivell said.

“But also, with the challenges comes learning. I’ve had a lot of learning through those hard times and it has helped me adapt. I wouldn’t say come to terms with things yet; that is an ongoing thing.

“There are limited things I can do, and I am on my journey to regain a lot of my independence.”

Returning to school and giving back were his biggest “whys” and the news that he would be a prefect next year had been exciting.

“I think the first goal when I came back was definitely to go back to school because I really want to study after school and learn how to help people in my situation.

“To do that, I was like ‘I’ve got to go back to school, get all my credits’.”

He gradually started back at school towards the end of last year.

“It was awesome. At first, I was really anxious, really scared, but I built up enough resilience and enough courage to go in and give it my all.

“People were really understanding, really helpful. Campion College has made it so easy for me to go back to school. They helped so much, so I was really happy about that.”

During his recovery in Auckland, he thought he should give back to the school and wider Catholic community.

“During that time of the accident they were so supportive, not only to me but also to my family.

“They organised the Givealittle [fundraiser], made sure my father and my sister were all right whilst I was up in Auckland, and also just showed the utmost support.”

He was in Auckland for about five months after the accident, starting in ICU at the hospital for a couple of weeks, before moving to the spinal rehabilitation unit for physiotherapy.

“It was quite hard not being able to be physically present at my mum’s funeral. Obviously they had me highly medicated because of the injury, so I just wasn’t thinking straight.

“It was quite challenging because I felt like I couldn’t be there physically and spiritually.”

Rehabilitation meant relearning independence and included a lot of strength training.

“After my accident, I lost a lot of my strength and a lot of my muscles.

“Their big priority was to get me as independent as possible before sending me home, and to help me feel more confident about myself.”

He had a nerve surgery earlier last year to transfer some nerves from an operating muscle to another part inside his arm to help him regain hand mobility over time.

“I’m on the journey to regain my finer motor skills.”

He is optimistic about what the future holds, not only for his own recovery but also for the development of technology that could further improve movement.

“Honestly, the way the world is going now, I think anything is possible now and it is not just purely for spinal cord injuries but for all injuries.

“Even if it helps me get 5 or 10% more movement than I have today, then I would be so happy.”

He said the relative rarity of someone his age with this disability had made it difficult to adjust, but he was determined to move beyond that.

“I don’t want to let my disability define me. I want to overcome all the negative stigma and at the end of the day be my own person.”

He hasn’t decided what he wants to study yet, but he is certain his vocation will involve giving back to the community and helping others in similar situations to his.

“I understand how it feels not being heard and just needing someone in that position to support and give advice.”

He said he wanted to emphasise the struggle faced by tāngata whaikaha (disabled people) in general.

“It’s not really talked about enough. I know people don’t understand my injury, so I don’t take that out on people. I take time to actually tell them about my injury, what has happened, what I can do and can’t do.

“Open-mindedness as well. People need to be more open-minded, more inclusive of people with disabilities.”

His father has been advocating for more accessible facilities at his workplace.

“There is a big tamata whaikaha, people with disabilities, population, and it is probably one of the things that needs to be audited,” Rewi Nankivell said.

He wanted to give “a big mihi” in thanks to the wider family, friends, marae and school community for their support.

“[Rewi] is fortunate there are some really solid advocates out there for him.”