Guys go to shake your hand, and then they kind of go, 'Holy crap, what do I do?' And you can see it in their eyes. 'Shake my stump; it's what I've got left.' Awesome. One word ` awesome. READS: 'I will always be here for you. 'I love you now more than I've ever loved you. 'You are my soulmate.' (SOBS) This is a really affecting story about one man, one family and how they confronted and overcame an unimaginable event. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2013 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. To his four kids, Mathew Ames is the best dad in the world. To his wife, Dianne, he's the love of her life. Here's why. Last year Mathew got a sore throat. He thought it was 'man flu'. But he ended up in hospital in an induced coma, and surgeons decided his only chance of survival was to amputate his arms and legs. And that's when this remarkable love story really begins. Here's Mike Willesee. When I pass... a mirror, you know, and see myself, you know, I keep on almost taking, sort of, a second look, going, 'Holy crap, that's guy's` that guy's got no arms and legs.' 40-year-old Matthew is a university graduate who was working as an engineer for Origin Energy. He and wife, Di, live with their four children in Brisbane. Hi, Matthew. Mike Willesee. Hi, Matthew. Mike Willesee. Hi, Mike. Great to meet you. Hi, Matthew. Mike Willesee. Hi, Mike. Great to meet you. Yeah, good to see you. Hi. How are you? Hi. How are you? I'm Di. Matthew and Di have been in love virtually since the day they met. We met at university ` first week in uni ` so, yeah, we were friends for a while, and then I went, 'Yeah, you know what? I really like this girl.' We were both 17 and, within two weeks of knowing each other, we both knew that we wanted to marry each other. Is it true you proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Yeah, I did. Yep. Yeah, I did. Yep. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, yeah, no, it was a... Yeah, yeah, no, it was a... < That's fantastic. Yeah, yeah, no, it was a... < That's fantastic. It was good. STRING MUSIC PLAYS, PEOPLE APPLAUD I love you. I love you. I love you. You smell beautiful. You recited the words from a song. The Depeche Mode song, yes. Do you remember the words? > I do. The... It was, 'I found somebody to share...' ...share the rest of my life, share my innermost thoughts, know my intimate details. Someone who'll stand by my side and be my support and... (VOICE BREAKS) in return... (SOBS) (SOBS) You're all right. It's OK. Grab a tissue. > It's OK. Grab a tissue. > Got a tissue there. And then babies followed, and there was no prouder dad than Matthew. Better than the Webb Ellis trophy. They had three boys in quick succession. Four years later, one more bub would join this big, happy family ` 3-year-old Emily, their youngest child and their only girl. Until he fell ill, Matthew was an active father ` water bombs one day,... Oh, I got you! I got you! ...coaching the kids' cricket the next. KIDS SHOUT KIDS SHOUT So we don't get confused... In June last year, you started feeling sick. Mm-hm. Mm-hm. How sick did you think you were? You know, I knew I was sick. I wondered whether I had the man flu and I was complaining too much, but I just knew there was something wrong with me. Matthew was just progressively getting worse and worse, and he was in a lot of pain. Matthew was sick for some days and was concerned enough to see four doctors. They all sent him to bed. Then suddenly, he was struck with unbearable pain and could not walk. He was brought here. Got to triage, I put out my left arm and... showed the triage nurse my rash, and apparently, I was awake for another 12 hours after that, but my brain's decided that it doesn't want to remember anything from that point. Early next morning, Matthew was placed into an induced coma. His left arm identified as the site of an infection. Doctors operate to try to stop the spread of the toxins, but it doesn't work. Would you say he was dying? He was in the process of dying, definitely. We were dealing with a man who was, what we call, septic, I guess, with an infection that was affecting every organ system in his body. Matthew went into streptococcal toxic shock. Worst affected was his left arm. You know, his limbs on the Friday evening when we amputated his left arm. His other limbs didn't look normal, but they weren't to the point where we needed to amputate, but you could see them then progress over the next 12 or so hours to become, essentially, you know, looking like what the left had done, so... On the Saturday, just three days after Matthew's admission, his family gathered here in the intensive care visitors room. They were asked by the surgical team to make the most difficult and the most unimaginable decision of their lives. And it took them just five minutes. The surgeons told us that, basically, this was it, unless we went ahead with the operation to amputate his three remaining limbs because he'd already had one arm amputated at that stage. She said making that decision about your amputations was the first decision she'd made without you. A really big one, yeah. Because she'd led that meeting. I... When I heard about that meeting, I just said to Di... I just said, 'Thank you.' You know. I would have made exactly the same decision. And... I just knew that she would've looked after me no matter what. There was... no alternative. I couldn't let Matthew die. He... He is my everything. The amputations took three hours ` first the right leg, then the left. And then, while that was being done, another surgical team started sawing off his right arm. A quadruple amputation? Yes, yeah. Yes, yeah. How rare is that? It's very uncommon. This is the only one I've been involved with. I'm aware of other cases, but it is uncommon. It's usually in victims of, uh, um, trauma in the battlefield scenario. Matthew's recovery would be touch-and-go. Yeah, because they're talking about a 1% chance of survival. Not great odds, clearly. But Matthew Ames has a lot worth fighting for. We're back in a moment. (GIGGLES) Come on, grab it. Grab it. Grab it. Quick, it's there. It's there. I've got it. I've got it. You got it? OK. I've got it. You got it? OK. I got it. Hello again. Mathew Ames should have died. If the life-threatening infection did not end his life, then almost certainly the radical surgical procedure would. When he came to three weeks later, and it was your job to tell him what had happened ` that it wasn't the flu, you now have no arms and legs ` do you remember what you said? Yes, I do. 'You got to the point where 'the doctors had done 'everything that they could medically 'to save your life, and there was no` no other, um, 'way forward.' And the only option was to amputate his remaining arms and legs, and so I had gone ahead with that option ` to... to amputate his arms and legs to save his life. < It's hard for the rest of us to get our minds around that. < You've gone to hospital sick, and you wake up, knowing nothing, < to be told you have no arms and no legs. < to be told you have no arms and no legs. Yeah. You were coming out of sedation. Did you fully understand what she was telling you? I just had this overwhelming feeling, given Di was there, that everything was gonna be OK. Now, I get sad about the lost opportunities that I... could have had with arms and legs. But with every time you see the sadness, you see the other side of the... opportunities and the fantastic,... um... The fact that I'm here to see the kids grow up, to help Di and to grow old is just such a blessing. The... The rest of it doesn't really matter. < Grieving for what you can't do is quite different from grieving for yourself ` Yes. Yes. to make it blunt, feeling sorry for yourself,... Yeah. Yeah. ...which would be very understandable. It would. It just doesn't appear to really be in me to dwell there for very long. There's something special about this guy. I'd had phone calls from the intensive care guys who were transformed by this family, and from the orthopaedic surgeon, Tim, about the situation. So there was obviously an effect he was having on people around him, even unconscious in a hospital bed. After Matthew's limbs were removed, Dr Saul Geffen took charge of his rehabilitation. Seldom has he seen a patient with Matthew's fighting qualities. Matt's... one of the best professional challenges I'll ever have in my life. I bet you couldn't hold up 10 seconds stationary. You know me. You shouldn't bet anything. You ready? You know me. You shouldn't bet anything. You ready? Yeah. Go on. I'll spin anyway, I've got to... One more. Stop. Right, so we're going for 10 seconds. ...two, three. (GRUNTS) Oh, I'm wrong. I wouldn't have the grace and courage he displayed and he's displayed from day one. Thanks. Thanks. OK, everything looks where it should be. Does that feel OK? Does that feel OK? Yep. Yeah, nice. Good, Matt, good. When you see someone like Matt for the first time, for many people who are not used to disability and disfiguring disabilities, it's very confronting. It seems there are people who are simply uncomfortable when confronted with disabilities. Yeah. I think, for me, guys are harder than... meeting a guy is harder than meeting a girl, um, because girls will kind of give you a cuddle or a kiss, and that's OK, whereas guys go to shake your hand, and then they kind of go, 'Holy crap, what do I do?' And you can see it in their eyes. So most of the time, when I get an opportunity, I kind of go, 'Shake my stump; it's what I've got left.' DI: He's amazing because he keeps pushing forward all the time. I haven't done this little before. DR GEFFEN: You haven't touched him? > DR GEFFEN: You haven't touched him? > I haven't. You haven't touched him yet? This one will be easy because he can flop on it. > Take your time. Don't rush. > Take your time. Don't rush. > No, no. Get set. > Get set. > (GRUNTS) (GRUNTS) Great control. Yes, well done. Yes, well done. Well done. There you go. There you go. Terrific. Good work. There you go. Terrific. Good work. You're on top of Mt Matthew. Seriously. I'm gonna get some graffiti on this later. What do you think would stop him from this incredible ability to stay up and... > positive? What would it take to stop him? > To not have the family there. The family means everything to Matthew. He's doing this all for us ` to` for us to all to be together. Oh, he's amazing, isn't he? Back in a moment. KINGS OF LEON'S 'COMEBACK STORY' INQUISITIVE MUSIC He is about to say, 'No split bills.' Now they're thinking, 'How are we going to work this one out?' Now they're really thinking. 'Just zap some money to Andy using his mobile number, and he can take care of it. Simple.' ANZ's thinking the same way. The ANZ goMoney app puts your bank in your hand wherever you are. Now they're thinking, 'Wow, that was easy. So, same time next week.' Some way, somehow, Mathew Ames has come back from the dead. Now things, though, get really tough. It's time for him to go home, to confront a whole new way of life. KIDS TALK, SHOUT INDISTINCTLY KIDS TALK, SHOUT INDISTINCTLY < Who's come to see you? KIDS TALK, SHOUT INDISTINCTLY < Who's come to see you? It's Daddy. Hi, Uncle Matthew. LAUGHTER LAUGHTER < Oh nice. Party! Party! It would be eight months before Matthew was well enough to come home for good. When he was in his coma, Di kept a diary for him to read when he woke. Has Matthew seen this? Yeah, he has. Yeah, he has. Yeah, a fair while ago, so... 'You are my rock. 'You are my everything. 'Without being able to talk to you, life has been unbearable. 'I know that the reality of what you're facing may seem hard... to some, but not to you. 'In the days that it is hard, I am here to be your rock. 'I will always be here for you. 'I love you now more than I've ever loved you. 'You are my soulmate.' (SOBS) (CONTINUES SOBBING) I love you too. I love you too. I love you. You do you first. You do you first. (LAUGHS) You do you first. (LAUGHS) See, this is what she always does. Luke, sweetie. > Matthew feeds himself with a $3000 English invention called the Neater Eater. Let's go. < OK, ready? OK, stay together. < Stay together. OK. He takes the boys to taekwondo. Hello. In fact, as much as he can, Matthew tries to lead as normal a life as possible. What else is missing? What else is missing? I can. What else is missing? I can. You're gonna do the rest. OK. Go for it, Em. Why does your straw got more of a circumference than the...? KINGS OF LEON'S 'COMEBACK STORY' # Picking up the pieces in the world I know # with one in the fire and one in the snow. It's a comeback story of a lifetime. There you go. Oh man, you look hot. You look fantastic. You look beautiful. You look beautiful. Oh, thanks, hon. # Been told believing everything is all right. # I break with the day, and I've been with the night. # Whoo! No, you run for me. Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go, go! But this is not where the story ends; it's just beginning. Soon, Matthew will be the first Australian to get four bionic limbs. It will change his life. I'll be driving in five years' time. MUSIC PLAYS, PEOPLE APPLAUD Matthew and Di have always loved to dance. Even today, that hasn't changed. SINGS ALONG TO MUSIC: # Relax. Don't do it. # SINGS ALONG TO MUSIC: # Relax. Don't do it. # This when I need a lap dance. They're doing their best to keep things normal, but a lot has changed. What do you miss the most? Probably holding hands. It's... It's hard because that's... that's... just one of the things that you do as a couple, you know. You go out, and so much revolves around, you know, you touch each other on your hands, or, um... yeah, and` and he had beautiful hands too. We'd better say goodbye here. We'd better say goodbye here. OK. All right. We'd better say goodbye here. OK. All right. Buh-bye. Love you. Love you. Bye-bye. Love you. Cuddle too? Cuddle too? Bye-bye. Cuddle too? Bye-bye. Can I have a kiss and a cuddle? Squeezy. What about a squeezy cuddle? Squeezy. What about a squeezy cuddle? Bye-bye, beautiful. To lose the ability to hold or to walk is huge. But for Matthew, there's hope. Matthew needs limbs to do everything other than hop around or waddle on his bottom. So the system that we are trying to get for Matthew involves very expensive, uh, prostheses because they're gold standard, they're the best that's available. Bionic limbs ` $500,000 worth. On Tuesday, Matthew and Di flew from Brisbane to Melbourne for an operation to prepare him for his new limbs. The thing that's going to change for them in the near future is these techniques we are going to do, which will leave metal rods protruding from all of his limbs. Now, the metal rods are about this long, and they have a square peg on the end. And that's how the new limbs are going to attach to his body. This is how Matthew's bionic limbs will operate. Electrodes implanted in the nerves and muscles in his stumps will send signals from his brain, making his hands move. You're on the way to being a bionic man. Uh, yeah. Looks like it. That's not bad now. One more surgery, one more risk, one more piece of metal implanted. Matthew's surgery takes three and a half hours, and Di lives every minute of it. It all goes well. Hi, beautiful. How are you? You look great. Yeah, honeymoon period... Yeah, honeymoon period... (LAUGHS) Yeah, honeymoon period... (LAUGHS) ...before the morphine wears off. The support of Di and his family and friends has been absolutely critical to getting him through. Do you need any help? But it's also prompted great reflection as Matthew comes to terms with, in his words, his 'new normal'. If you join Twitter, you've got to write your 20, you know` 20-character or 20-word description of yourself. Mine's still blank, because I haven't really worked out how do I describe myself, and that's kind of an ongoing journey. Do you want to have a crack at that self-description now? Yeah. I've kind of worked out some of it. READS: 'Harry tried to recall what he had been dreaming.' I think how I describe myself now would be, um, a husband, a dad,... 'He concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember. 'A dim picture of a darkened room came to him.' ...a son and brother and friend. For me, starting with just that description is probably different to the way I would have done it before. # You shoot me down,... Hey! # ...but I get up. Relationships have become much more important to me. I'd probably put on there I'm an engineer, still am, and will probably get back at that. Um, I might put in there, towards the end, 'And by the way, I've got no limbs,' you know, but that's kind of towards the end of the description. You can hold me. You can hold me. Yeah, we can. A few other dots to be filled in, so I think that's where I'm at at the moment. # You shoot me down, # but I won't fall. # I am titanium. # Hello. Hello. Hello, beautiful. Man, he's a gift, isn't he? Amazing. That is our show for tonight. Do join us on Facebook.