Show Your Support: Get behind The Catwalk Trust to find a spinal cord injury paralysis to help Holly, Grant and other Kiwis.
They say it’s not what happens that defines you, it’s how you react that counts. And no more does this statement ring true than for these two everyday Kiwis.
While there might be 43 years between young North Shore local Holly Pretorius and South Auckland local Grant Sharman, the two share a commonality - both have experienced a one-in-a-million moment that has dramatically changed their lives forever.
Affectionately known as “wheelies”, Grant, 54, is a quadriplegic, who has been living in a wheelchair without the use of his arms, legs, bladder and bowels since breaking his neck on the rugby field at the age of 15. Holly, meanwhile, was in a motor vehicle accident six years ago, which claimed not only her legs but also very nearly her life.
Their unyielding determination and relentless positivity in the face of an injury that has forced them to not only adapt to everyday life in ways those of us who are able-bodied can't even begin to imagine, but to thrive and achieve incredible things - such as winning gold medals and riding horses - is both humbling and remarkable.
And it's why these locals deserve our help. Joining forces with other well-known stars, such as Richie McCaw and Princess Zara Phillips, this month Holly and Grant are encouraging people around New Zealand to be one of a million to offer their support for The Catwalk Trust by donating just $3 via text message.
The charity was set up by well-known New Zealand equestrian Catriona Williams in 2005 after she experienced a devastating horse riding accident in November 2002 that left her a quadriplegic. Its focus? To fund research for a cure to spinal cord injury (SCI) paralysis.
"All you need to do is not have your Monday morning coffee and instead text WALK to 2448”, explains former gold medal-winning Wheel Black coach and well-known mouth painter Grant. “If one million Kiwis do that, it would help raise the kind of money we need to fund essential spinal cord research. I’m 54 and it might be too late for me to ever walk again but for someone like Holly, they could find a cure in her lifetime. Imagine a world without wheelchairs. It's not just about curing individuals - a spinal cord injury impacts entire communities so this is about taking away a good deal of pain that a community feels."
Indeed, it’s a one-in-a-million moment that occurs when an accident forces someone into a wheelchair. Grant says the prognosis for an injury like his has changed dramatically in his lifetime.
When he broke his neck, Grant went from a rambunctious, cheeky student at Auckland’s King’s College to being told he should expect to live for just 10 years. Confined to the Auckland Spinal Unit located in Otara for 11 years, the vivacious sports star says it took until he was 28 years old to want to start living again.
Interestingly, it was an unusual combination of rugby, art and finally love that help pull him back from the brink. It was his father that suggested in the early days after his injury that rather than moping in the unit, he take up mouth painting as a career opportunity. He says when he first picked up a paintbrush he couldn’t be bothered but within a week, was painting daily. Today, it is his profession.
The other thing that changed his paradigm was when Grant met his wife of now 26 years. Jenny was a nurse at the spinal cord unit. “It was a different time. We were deeply unprofessional,” he jokes, adding more seriously, “honestly I had a bit of a ‘sorry-for-myself’ complex and never thought that marriage would be in my plan because I was in a wheelchair."
Within a year of meeting Jenny, he had moved out of the spinal cord institute and soon found himself playing in the country’s first-ever wheelchair rugby team. He was part of the first-ever team of Wheel Blacks, who travelled to Switzerland in 1995 to compete in the World Champs and subsequently moved into a coaching role.
Grant then went on to coached the New Zealand team to gold at the 2004 Paralympics Olympics in Athens. He recalls the one-in-a-million moment when he was called onto the dais by the team, realising that he had found the will not only to live in a wheelchair but to excel.
“It opened up a whole new world and I learnt that when opportunity happens, you grab it and go for it because you never know what will happen next,” he smiles. “Life will take you to these amazing places and lets you have great adventures."
His work as a coach and then television presenter and producer means Grant is one of New Zealand’s most prominent “wheelies” and today is a trustee for The Catwalk Trust. He paints daily from the South Auckland farm he shares with his wife and two cats and is just as cheeky as he was at the age of 15. But while he knows he may never experience a cure he hopes that - with the help of fellow Kiwis - life will be very different for Holly by the time she is his age.
To the credit of Holly and her parents, the 13 year old doesn’t see her injury holding her back. When asked what it’s like to be in a wheelchair, the avid horse rider beams and says, “I like to pretend to be a horse. You can do jumps by doing wheelies or pretend you’re cantering by rolling smoothly. I first did this when I was 10 because that’s when I started becoming obsessed with horses."
However for her family, the accident meant major readjustments, including moving to a flat section and into a new home - designed especially for Holly by a compassionate local builder - to having to adapt to a whole different sort of life. “We were in Starship for 39 days and then in the Wilson Centre in Takapuna for four months,” explains David. “Holly also travelled to Detroit for rehabilitation, which saw her and her mum stay there for four months. Our main mission is to make Holly’s life as normal as possible so that she feels there is nothing that can hold her back."
Yet there are the daily, ongoing challenges for David and his wife Natasha. “I remember we had been injured for about a year and I went to the supermarket to pick up a rotisserie chicken. Being an unknowing parent, I put it under her legs and once we got home we realised it had badly burnt the back of her legs. Of course, she can’t doesn’t feel anything,” he tells. "As a parent, it’s situations like that which are very frustrating and highly stressful."
David's commitment to finding a cure for his daughter is what has led him to become a trustee for The Catwalk Trust and will see him run the New York Marathon for a second time in November. He is currently raising money on the Everyday Hero platform because he is stoically determined to do whatever it takes for Holly to walk again.
“I took a phone call today that has convinced me that this will soon be a reality. The more money that is available, the more we are able to fund the research that will help us find a cure,” says David. “Deep down, all we hope for is a cure. It would change everything for kids like Holly."
Want To Help?
Show your support for locals like Grant and Holly by joining Richie, Catriona and other CatWalkers to help make SCI paralysis a thing of the past. Yes, you could help to create a life without wheelchairs by being one of the one million Kiwis “WALKing”. Simply TXT WALK to 2448 to help the cause and be One In A Million. For more info about The Catwalk Trust, head here.
Scouted and reported by Kylie Bailey
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