Otaki Today‘Need a drink of water.”
With those words, Charlie Simpson’s family knew that he had taken a big step forward on his way to recovering from a horrific crash on Ōtaki Beach. They were the first words he uttered when he came out of a coma six days after the incident.
The family had been told about how the first words were a good indication of post-coma recovery. Grunts or gestures only were not so good, a word or two encouraging, and a sentence was positive. The near-full sentence was music to their ears.
“We knew he was coming back,” mother Pru says. “It had been tough for everyone waiting to see how he was, especially after being told at the beginning that he was unlikely to survive at all.”
That grim prognosis was from an assessment by paramedics of Charlie’s injuries as he lay unconscious on the beach after a collision between the motorcycle he was riding and a ute. (Police have been investigating.) It was the scene not long after 8pm on November 6 that Charlie’s sister, Maddie, was confronted with when she rushed to the beach after being told of the crash.
With a broken femur and thumb, and significant brain injuries, his condition was still bleak after being flown to Wellington Hospital by air ambulance. Only then, half a world away, did his parents, Pru and Marc, hear about the crash in a call they took in a New York hotel room. Pru had just fulfilled one of her dreams, to compete in the New York marathon.
They hoped against apparent hope for better news as they scrambled to return to New Zealand, which took three days. Charlie was to remain in the coma for another three days, before the encouraging first words he spoke.
He was transferred to an orthopaedic ward on day 13, then to the ABI (acute brain injury) unit at Kenepuru Hospital on day 22.
On day 62, January 8, he was home after two operations on his wrist and one on his femur, and having had a staphylococcus chest infection and an air bubble under his lungs.
When Ōtaki Today visited him at home, he was happy to talk about his future, but remembered nothing of the crash itself.
Charlie Simpson, centre, with the family’s pet dogs and parents Marc and Pru, and back, from left, sisters Eva, Amity and Maddie.
Photo Ōtaki Today
“No, there’s nothing there,” he says. “I remember going to work that day, but nothing else until I woke up in hospital. I’m told it’s the mind pretending to hide what happened.”
Remarkably articulate and upbeat, Charlie says he’s now focused on his physical recovery first, rather than dwelling on any mental issues. He has already confounded the medical staff at Wellington and Kenepuru hospitals – beating the odds – and is pragmatic about the future.
That’s despite having to give up any thoughts of past pursuits, including rugby and volunteering with Land Search and Rescue. He won’t be able to drive for at least six months, drink alcohol for at least two years, nor be able to join the police or army, as he had hoped.
Right now he’s getting help to become independent, then there will be a back-to-work programme. A neurological assessment in a few months will determine how well he’s doing.
Even after all he’s been through, his concerns are for his family.
“Maddie had to cope with it all before Mum and Dad got home. I was just passed out – that was easy. All their lives have had to go on hold while I’ve been in hospital.”
Charlie, who is 19, credits his recovery to the support he’s received, his youth, and his fitness. .
Pru says people need to be aware of the dangers of driving on the beach, and consider how severe the consequences can be when something goes wrong.
“It changes people’s lives forever,” she says.
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