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NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 20 “There’s Nothing Like it in the World” Bryce Dinneen talks about funding a multimillion-dollar boat ALL SMILES: Bryce says the moment when people with a disability realise that they can fish it is life-changing. Photo credit: Wish4Fish. Bryce Dinneen has a heart of gold. The Tauranga man sustained a spinal cord impairment when he was 29. He has never given up. Better still he has taken his passion for fishing and created a fully accessible boat with his charitable trust Wish4Fish. The boat, and the experiences on it, are changing the lives of people living with a disability. Bryce Dinneen is lying flat on his back in the Burwood Spinal Unit when he looks up at the ceiling. He’s doing it tough. Bryce has been in head traction for the past 10 weeks and it’s pushed him to the limit. “I had one bad day where I got really upset,” remembers Bryce. “My family got upset. I was at breaking point.” He says the “amazing team” at Burwood Spinal Unit helped him turn it around. They encouraged him to put photos of good times and friends and whānau on the ceiling because he was spending so much time looking up. Bryce’s family taped photos on the ceiling with two themes. One was a collection of times with friends and whānau laden with smiles and happiness. The other one —Bryce Dinneen I thought, 'crikey, how am I going to go fishing again? I have to look into this.' was fishing. “I thought, ‘crikey, how am I going to go fishing again? I’ll have to look into this’.” The idea for Wish4Fish was born. Bryce began dreaming about creating something special. “Things changed forever” Bryce can remember his accident like it was yesterday. It was the Wellington Cup, 28 January 2007 and he was at a stag party. “We were a bunch of guys having a champagne breakfast, probably too much champagne and not enough breakfast,” he says. They had a great day at the races in full suit and tie. On the way back into town for a meal some of the lads
SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 21 decided to jump into Wellington Harbour for a swim to freshen up. “I wasn't too keen, but I just went along with it. I was the last one into the water and I misjudged the depth as I dived in. “There was a loud bang and things changed forever.” Bryce was lying face down in the ocean and he couldn’t move. He was fighting for his life. His mates faced the hard decision to leave Bryce face down to protect his spine or turn him over. “Thankfully they turned me over, that allowed me to get back to breathing.” In a state of shock, they waited for the emergency services to arrive and take Bryce to ICU at Wellington Hospital. Lying in a hospital bed, Bryce made the hardest phone call of his life. “I had to ring my Mum and Dad and tell them that I had a high-level spinal cord injury. Mum answered the phone first, she said wait there and she went to get my father and he dropped the phone just with the sheer shock. “To be honest their lives have never been the same since that day. Barring the passing away of your loved one or sibling, it's pretty much close to the top of the tree, so to speak, in terms of a big moment to come to terms with.” LEGACY: Bryce’s funding pitch to the Lotteries Commission said they would take 1000 people out on the boat every year. “That was our line in the sand”. Starting again Bryce was 29 years old. He was sent to Christchurch Hospital ICU for two weeks to allow the injury to stabilise and then he was in Burwood Spinal Unit for a further 11 months. “It was a long time because of the way they managed my break,” he says. Bryce had fractured his C2, C3, C5 and C6 in his cervical vertebrae. He was placed in head traction for a minimum of eight weeks and then another two weeks. It was the hardest time in his life. “To be honest, head traction was a pretty tough time,” he says in his understated way. His family were his rock. His sister never missed a day when he was in the Spinal Unit. And his Mum and Dad who were living in Tauranga flew down regularly thanks to the support of ACC. When he had a tough day, his sister provided some inspirational words which changed his perspective. “She said ‘it's happened to you for a reason Bryce,” he says. You of all people who have our love and support, but you have the ability to deal with it, you're a larger-than-life character. You're a positive kind of guy. So, you’ve really got to just try and drill down on that’.” Bryce remembers one of the doctors at Burwood would always say whatever person you were like before your spinal cord injury, it magnifies afterwards. “So if you're a bit of a rascal and you would get up to mischief. Well, you can sort of easily go down that path moving forward. Or you can go, right, how am I going to make this work?” It was a turning point. “It might sound silly, but I consider myself blessed that I went to the Burwood Spinal Unit and learned off so many people that actually genuinely had great advice.” He says he has the nurses at Burwood to thank for his skin integrity. People like Dr. Angelo Anthony and Dr. Rick Acland taught him how to own his new life. —Bryce Dinneen There was a loud bang and things changed forever. “Whether it was teaching a support worker how to transfer you or having an understanding about battling bladder management, you've got to take responsibility,” he says. “It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be challenging, but you can actually have some quality of life moving forward. That’s why I consider myself grateful.” Back into the outside world Bryce found the transition to home scary. “I didn’t want to leave Burwood because I had everything there I needed. Doctors, physios, support. But there’s that transition period which everyone has to focus on moving forward. And it is hard. “It took me a long time to get back into society.” As a young man, Bryce was a keen sportsman. He did a lot of running and playing representative cricket. He said to excel in those two pursuits you need to be mentally strong and that helped in his recovery. Bryce turned his attention to helping others and making a difference. Wish4Fish was born The idea of fishing again stayed with him. He had a number of conversations in the Spinal Unit, and he was told “Bryce we don’t go fishing because it’s too hard”. Bryce thought to himself: ‘I am not accepting that. I’m going to figure out how to do this’. And the more people I
Page 1 and 2: December 2022 Volume 25 / Issue 3 T
Page 3 and 4: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 3 An Enduring F
Page 5 and 6: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 5 Supporting Po
Page 7 and 8: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 7 Making a Diff
Page 9 and 10: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 9 For some of o
Page 11 and 12: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 11 Travelling a
Page 13 and 14: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 13 The physical
Page 15 and 16: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 15 Book Review
Page 17 and 18: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 17 “I turn th
Page 19: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS Fadiel Italiana
Page 23 and 24: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 23 Getting Crea
Page 25 and 26: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 25 Meet Our Tea
Page 27 and 28: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 27 Giving back
Page 29 and 30: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 29 The Metrotel
Page 31 and 32: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 31 Hospital The
Page 33 and 34: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 33 Preparing th
Page 35 and 36: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 35 Thank you to

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