- The ocean's my happy place. Just` I love the water, and I love the feeling of it and being in it, and the way that you can look at the land from the water. It's just a different perspective. I was always a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. Surfing, biking, climbing ` those are, like` Like, I love these things so much, you know? I wanted to be tramping all summer in the hills, and I can't do that now. I feel like there's that first instinct where I'm like, 'I need to run. I need to get out of here.' There's the, like, need almost. It's hard to not go to those places. That's why I get frustrated, cos I'm still, like, thinking I'm the same. (LAUGHS) Hi, I'm Anna. I'm a Kiwi. I love the outdoors, and I'm an amputee. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 (STIRRING MUSIC) (PEOPLE CHATTER INDISTINCTLY) Well, I'm a surfer first. Just love it. I love the ocean, and I'm always out with, like, the boys. There's quite a lot of competitive nature and, like... I've always been kind of in that environment. I've always loved being outdoors and exploring. - She's constantly hiking or canoeing or... (CHUCKLES) mountain biking or ice-picking. I don't know. Like, you know, always doing something like that. I'm the oldest, and there's my brother, Benjamin. And then 13 years later, there was Anna. She stops us from being old cos she's young and fun. Always moving ` doesn't really sit still. - I was studying marine science and ecology at Otago Uni in Dunedin, and I was in my third year, and I got in to Bamfield, which is like a little marine science centre on Vancouver Island, and they're amazing. So I decided that I could do that to finish my degree. (UNEASY MUSIC) Before Canada, just went to Yosemite for climbing for, like, about seven days. I loved climbing, so it was perfect. (UNEASY MUSIC SWELLS) It didn't seem too hard. The first pitch was real straightforward ` within our, like, range of where we wanted to climb, our comfortability. I was, like, getting in the flow of it a little bit, and I kind of liked it. Like, the fact that you're a little bit, like, free. I went up to that bolt and then clipped it, went across to the right instead of to the left, and I just put my foot on it, and then I weighted it, and I was like, 'Oh, yep, that's good.' Lifted this one off, and then I was not in the right place at the right time and slipped on this leg. It was a long way up, so I fell really far. (ROCKS CRUMBLE) I can feel all this, like, pain and crazy feeling that you're like, 'I just need help, like, emergency help.' And I go quite calm, I think, and just like, I need help now, and then I'm just gonna wait for the helicopter. And I remember hearing the, like, you know, (IMITATES HELICOPTER BLADES) and being like, 'Yes, they're coming.' (POIGNANT MUSIC) - It was a horrific fall. She fell nearly 30m and had so many injuries. She was in a critical state and in a lot of pain. - I compressed my T8, so it was putting pressure on to my spinal cord. I broke my pelvis, all the bones in my foot on this side, and then this one pretty much didn't have a talus any more. It wasn't` It was gone. It was obliterated. It was left on the mountain. The surgeon showed me some photos of what they could do and talked about the pros, cons, limitations, that kind of thing, and what he recommended, which was that amputation. There's, like, a lot of emotion around the decision. But if I, like, stripped all the emotion away, I was just like, 'Is this gonna give me the life that, like, I would most want to live?' And that was amputating. And I just kind of knew that; I had a lot of peace about it. I'd say supernatural peace about, 'Nah, this is the right decision.' - When Anna had her accident, both my parents flew over straight away, and they were able to be with her over there. But my brother and I weren't able to, so we had to wait. And that was a really hard, long wait. When she arrived, and we were all waiting at the airport, and you're so full of emotion. Like, you've been waiting, you know, like, (TEARFULLY) six weeks to see her. And then as soon as they open the door, she's just like, 'Hi!' LAUGHS: And you're just like, 'What?' You know, and so you couldn't then help but smile and laugh. - I went straight to Christchurch, then to Burwood Spinal Unit, where I learnt to walk again. I was in, like, a pretty tough patch. Quite hard, those first few days accepting that the injury had happened. Just, like, dealing with looking at yourself in the mirror. It's super hard to see part of you gone. You have to learn to accept your new body. It's like a grief that I'm still dealing with, to be honest. (WIND HOWLS GENTLY) Oh, you made me salad? - You and I, yep. - Oh, yum. (CHUCKLES) This is another good thing about the house ` Dave. 'I just left Burwood last week and went to stay at my auntie and uncle's house till the end of the year, 'transitioning into this new period.' Looks good. - I do like the salads. I need to watch it too. The lighter I am and the stronger muscles I have, then it just makes life so much easier for my` for my leg. (CHUCKLES) - For the weight ratio. - LAUGHS: Yeah. Yeah. Hi, guys! - Hello! - 'Lizzie and Ruth from my physio team are coming to just go over some goals and plans. 'When I first fell and I was in ICU, 'I was just like, "Oh, I'm just gonna go and get back to everything that I did beforehand." 'I was super excited that somebody believed in me.' It's nice to still have those, like, big goals in the back of my head, for myself anyway. - So we're just having to think about your right lower limb strength as well. - Yeah. - Mm-hm. - Oh, the stability in the ankle and also maybe range of motion. 'We're just working on, like, first getting back to walking 'without crutches and being able to do normal activities well 'before getting back out to all the ones that I really love.' And I'm not quite ready to wear one yet. - What that probably brings us quite nicely on to is kind of that balancing between all the really fun activities. - So all that? - Yeah. As well as functioning at home after leaving Burwood Hospital where everybody understands disability... - Yeah. - ...everything's flat, and now it's like` - And wheelchairs are normalised. I think that's worth... Yeah, like I'm just using my leg all the time now, cos it's like, 'Well, everyone's walking. I've gotta walk.' - Yes, yep. And I know one of your goals is to move into a rental with your friends in Christchurch, which then means you have to be independent with all of these things as well, isn't it? - We got the driving assessment... 'For Anna, re-establishing her independence. 'You know, going from being in Dunedin, uni student, enjoying life with her friends to now being here 'trying to maintain her sense of identity.' She's so motivated. And, yeah, I have every faith in her that she will achieve all the goals in the long term and in the short term as well. (DOGS BARK IN DISTANCE) - The atrophies ` this is shrinking so fast. Pretty much, it's already lost size. It used to be about the same size as this leg. And you can see it's way smaller. When I slipped on this side, possibly changed from grippy granite to quartz rock, and it just started to slide this` this leg. So it was that sliding motion all the way down. It was like a crayon, human crayon. This foot was also broken. It's a little bit swollen here, per normal, but this is also broken here. And then right through the middle there, of all those three. So this foot had a hard life as well. Saving this one means, you know, like, wow, they did save this foot even with that damage. (GENTLE MUSIC) We're at Foot n Motion, about to go see Nick Haley, my podiatrist, who's helping me get this foot stronger. - How are you finding the exercises for that foot? - Oh, yeah, well, I think I've gotten better ` especially swimming, it's helped. Do you want me to... - Yes. Yeah, definitely. Watching you walk across the room the other day was outstanding. - Yeah. I haven't used the moonboot at all either. - Cool, cool. - So, yeah, it's just... - So just give me a little bit of that movement. There's heaps better than we saw last week, eh? - Yeah. I've been pressing the bare foot into different kind of surfaces, cos it... - It's that sensitivity, eh? - Yeah, it's real sensitive. - The hypersensitivity ` because the loss of the limb here, this guy gets really, really sensitive. - Oh, I thought it was spinal. - Well, it's spinal as well, but it's` like, your body's going, 'What's going on? What's going on?' - Yeah. - And just understanding that movement, so all of that stuff and being able to watch it helps your brain and your body understand how that feels. - And I'm getting a review for that plate. - OK. - To take it out. - I got an email from the guy at ACC. I told him our plan was to get you back up the hill, get back climbing. So we've gotta try and work on getting you really strong with your feet, OK? Yeah, I know you're tough, and you're pushing through, but we've just gotta keep on going, yeah? - Yeah, yeah. - We're good, yeah. - I've done kayaking before with friends, whitewater kayaking in Central Otago, and then I've also done sea kayaking in Milford. - You've fallen out of your kayak. - Yep. - Right, you're floating around in the water. - Yep. 'We're out with my sister, Jess, and I kind of dragged her along, I suppose, as most things. 'And then Ian's awesome, so really excited for him to teach us some stuff.' - So you're floating in the water. Just reach out, hook that leg in, and you just pull yourself up and roll into the kayak. - CHUCKLES: Oh, nice. - Done. - Hopefully I'm gonna be able to do that. I'd love to try do a roll, go swimming, but we'll see how it goes. 'Possibly getting back in without having this leg on could be interesting.' I'm gonna come in right up next to it. - You're gonna hook your right leg in. - Yeah. - You're gonna reach over with your right arm, grab that deck line and stay flat as you can ` roll. As you` Just keep rolling. That's it. - (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) - Easy, isn't it? - LAUGHS: Yeah. (GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES) (WATER LAPS GENTLY) Oh, wow. How nice are the hills? Going out to play. - MAN: All right. (BIRDSONG) (GIGGLES) (CHATTERS INDISTINCTLY) - It's hard to see your little baby sister in pain like this. But I think one thing that's made it easier is that she's always laughing, and she's always happy. She's always our beam of sunshine in our family. - Wheeee! - Wait for me, Anna! It's exciting, and it's really good to see her... getting back into the outdoors, which is what she really loves. 'She's just so keen and determined to get out. 'So I'm glad that kayaking is a good sport for her injuries at the moment.' - Yeah, let's do the rescue, eh? - IAN: Yeah. All right, go for it. - OK. - Are you all right, Anna? I'm coming to help. We're both coming to help. Lie back. - Like this? - Hook that leg in. Right, you reach over with your right arm. - Go Anna! - Now roll. Roll, roll, roll, roll. Keep rolling, keep rolling. - Whoo-hoo! - (LAUGHS) That was awesome. (GENTLE MUSIC) Quick sprint to warm up. 'It was quite empowering to be on the kayak. 'Once you're in the boat, it felt like I just didn't have a disability at all. 'So that's why I've really enjoyed it.' Quite liked falling over. - (CHUCKLES) - The next big adventure goal would be doing some more big climbs again and getting into a little bit of mountaineering, possibly doing Aspiring. - (LAUGHS) Good to see ya. - After the accident, I contacted the Limb Centre's peer support people and then got connected with Steve. So awesome, especially in those early days of just giving you a bit of hope about what was possible. - The legs in here are for various different sports. - Steve came to visit me when I was still in the chair, and I don't think I even had my first leg. So that was awesome, cos I was like, wow, he's just rocking around; his walk looks, like, real good ` like, better than most people's. - This one I had made for when I was training for the London 2012. - Oh! That's a road biking` - Yeah, road bike leg, so road and track. - And it's carbon and aerodynamic. - Yeah, that's actually a seat-post off a track bike. This is my scuba diving leg. - Oh, wow. - It's got the suction socket, and then finally that's my ski leg. - It's so cool. - It just relies on the ski boot, and just allow you to flex and bend in your knee. - Yeah. - Yeah, so I've sort of... - Developed the collection. - Yeah, a collection over 26 years of being an amputee. - Problem is I want all of them now. - I know. (LAUGHS) - I'm not ready. (LAUGHS) - Kayaking is a perfect way to start, a great activity to start with as an amputee, and even rock climbing, where you're just climbing ` three-point rock climbing is fine. You just have to lower your expectation on grades wee bit. - CHUCKLES: I know, yeah. - Yeah, that's ideal to keep on doing those things, cos it allows you to, you know, live a fairly normal life. - Yeah, I've been pretty keen to start climbing with this off, you know, just see how it goes. - Yes. Yeah, cool. You've got a whole world of unlimited possibilities and opportunities ahead of you. You can choose to do whatever you want to do, and it's definitely led me to a whole series of experiences which I never would have had, you know, as a two-legger. And it's been phenomenal, you know, the journey that it's put me on. So you've got an amazing journey ahead of you. - Just need to get climbing or surfing or mountain biking in the Olympics. - Yeah, cool. - Paralympics, yeah. - Yeah, absolutely. (SOFT ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - I'm in a new flat in Christchurch now, at the beach, which is awesome. There's actually seven of us that live here, but we get a few blow-ins we call them, who just come and stay cos they need a place to crash. - Yeah, and it's, like, absolutely fine to drive. I was like, real nervous. - 'It's been eight months since my accident. Walking's really good.' I feel if I wear pants, no one has any idea I've got a prosthetic, which is pretty funny. 'Next week I have surgery on my right foot to take out a plate, which I'm pretty excited about, 'cos it means that there'll be no metal now in that foot, and it's healed pretty well.' (SERENE MUSIC) I feel pretty proud of how far my body's come. All my scars look pretty good. They're obviously there forever. They're part of me now, like everything else. But, yeah, pretty proud of how far I've come; I'm feeling pretty strong. I'm not all rainbows. There's definitely some really dark, sad moments where I'm like, crying in my car and, you know, it's hard. You just kinda want your leg back because it's easy, it's normal, it's freeing. It's kind of like a loss of your own self almost in a way, because it's your... your body. It's, like, made for you. It's who you are, and you don't have part of that any more. Recently it's been pretty good in that whole, like, acceptance of self and in who I am now. And it also doesn't necessarily define me, no matter how many times people ask, 'What happened to your leg?' (CHUCKLES) It's still not like, Anna, you know? It's just part of Anna. (BIRDS CHIRP IN DISTANCE) Morning, Ros. - Morning. - My body's feeling so much stronger. It's so nice to be able to, like, trust it. I just did Abel Tasman and the Sea Kayak and, like, loved that. And I did my dive in Kaikoura, which was awesome. Like, I didn't feel held back at all. It's been just so nice to go back into the great outdoors in New Zealand ` be a part of that environment again where I find the most connection. Even climbing seems pretty possible now. You just have to look after yourself more. You wanna plan for things cos you got to bring the aligners and make sure your socket's not gonna get wet, or, like, you can't just jump in the water for a swim. I think my mum always told me I needed to be more patient, and I think I've gotten more patient. But, yeah... Driving again's been great, cos I have my independence back, and I can just` if I wanna visit my sister or my fam or friends, I can just go. Definitely different driving an automatic. I'm used to my old station wagon. I mean, it's pretty nice. It's a lot easier. Means I can also, like, relax my leg or I can take it off. So it's really good for it. Ready? - WOMAN: Yep. (BOTH CHUCKLE) Perfect. (BLUESY MUSIC) - I'm way more aware of the potential for danger or the outcome because I've been there ` a lot less naive. A good example is I went with my physio on an e-bike mountain bike, which was awesome uphill, and then we kind of got to the downhill, and I was just terrified. I was honestly scared about my foot falling off. I used to ride a lot, you know, and I'm struggling on this little easy track. I'm just gonna switch the feet out. - Oh, yeah. - So this is for walking. 'Yeah, definitely have less trust in the leg and a lack of ability.' - (LAUGHS) - Attach the climbing one. 'And I know that it's only time. It's just learning, and I love learning, so that's OK.' (CHUCKLES) - Right. - OK. You're happy? - Yep. I'll just undo this. - Finally climbing, whoo! Cool. - Rock on, woman. (BLUESY MUSIC CONTINUES) - Ooh! So nervous with the... everything. - How's that left foot? Is it all good? (PENSIVE MUSIC) - (GRUNTS SOFTLY) - Nice, Anna. - Yeah, I'm not quite there yet. (PENSIVE MUSIC GROWS) OK, yeah, I'm safe. Can I have some slack, please? So fun. When you're climbing with friends, and you're in that, like, flow zone, you just forget about everything. You know, it's just you and the wall and your mates, and you're just away from everything. Um, ready to lower. 'I'm so thankful for everyone's support. 'It bought me to tears, like, seeing all the fundraisers for my medical bills. 'And to not have that weight on my shoulder is amazing. In Dunedin, it was unreal. They raised so much money for me, and it was the whole Dunedin community. So now if I go out in Dunedin, everyone's like, 'Hi, Anna!' Like, they're just so, so stoked to see me. Like, it's pretty beautiful. (TRIUMPHANT MUSIC) Whoo-hoo! The fact that I could come out of that so strong is, yeah, a testament to all those people in my family ` they've been awesome. Captions by Kitty Wasasala. Edited by Julie Taylor. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.