Awesome Amanda & Stunning Sue
I got to know Amanda in 2002 on my way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The bond you make with people while travelling is what has always fascinates me most. It’s actually what keeps me going.
Amanda and I kept staying in contact over the years sporadically. At the end of 2013, I thing it was because of Christmas, I got some shocking news from her.
(here more about her story – copyright by Amanda Lowry)
Awesome Amanda
“On the 7th March 2013, I dived off my sufboard, hit a sandbar and broke my neck. It was six days after the birth of our youngest daughter Ziggy. I remember everything.
I heard the crunch instinctively I knew what I’d done. I was lying face down in the water holding my breath, watching sand and shells gently swirling in front of me. I tried to push myself up, but my arms and legs wouldn’t work. It was strange. I was calm. I decided that, if worse came worse, I would breathe in water. I had heard that was a better way to go.”
You can imagine how shocked I was. There are no words to express how I felt for her. Of all people in the world… it had happened to her! Before coming to New Zealand, Amanda was very busy as she was working hard to get her PhD done. And of course, like with everything else in life, she succeeded. I am so proud of her and call myself blessed being her friend. Another part of her story, again in her own words might give you some insight about the impact of her accident on her body and life.
“A new life began the moment I broke my neck. I suffered a 110% anterior dislocation, with C6 coming to rest in front of C7. My spinal cord did not rip or tear; instead, it stretched like a bungee. The medical diagnosis is tetraplegia. All four of my limbs are affected. I am paralysed from my chest down. I have no bladder or bowel control, and no core, so I cannot cough or sneeze or sit up. I have no temperature regulation, so I don’t sweat or get goose bumps. My legs don’t work and, hardest of all, my hands don’t work.”
For me it didn’t come as a surprise that Amanda uses sport to push herself and her body. Her strong mind impressed me back then and it does even more today! Staying with her and her family, gave me a great insight in her daily routines. I am very grateful that she gave me the possibility to learn about all the difficulties she has to deal with on a daily base.
Being stuck to a wheelchair and in the need for help with so many things surely is a lifechanging experience. But she was still strong, awesome Amanda to me! I would have never ever imagening myself going to a swimmingpool for a swim at 07.30 a.m. – with Amanda I did! She’s such an example of courage and strenght. And she keeps on swimming…. I hardly could swim any longer after 50 minutes doing lanes… but what would that have looked like, quitting before her! We had a good laugh about it afterwards.
About 10 days later I would find myself in a similar situation, but this time being with her mum.
While staying with“Awesome Amanda” I told her about my plans travelling further down. One of the place I really wanted to visit was Taupo. I actually had found a nice Couchsurfing place there. Amanda though had other plans in mind for me. She wanted to hook me up with her mum Sue; or even better “Stunning Sue” – that’s what I ended up calling her!
Stunning Sue…
It has always been interesting to me once you’re getting to know “the family members”. Meeting Amanda 22 years ago while walking my way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain I was very much impressed by her strong body, witty way and the way how she cooped with life. Now staying with her astonishing mum… I could finally see where it all parted from. Behind this powerful, young woman stands an outstanding mum, so much is for sure!
Sue had been a stunning woman all her life, if you´d ask me. By the photographes on the wall (she once did modelling work as well), our talks… Her stories were just so impressive… that I couldn´t get enough of it. She once owned a rugged, two-seat, high-wing, single-engine light utility monoplane, a Piper PA-18A-150 Super Club. That was when Amanda went to boarding school in Napier. On Friday’s she would just fly over to get the kids from school.“It was so much quicker then driving there”, Sue said with a straight face. I just love her practical thinking! I asked her how she got into flying. “Well, I just loved being in the air, so I thought I better get myself a lisence so I can do it more often”, was her answer.
Later on in life she would be working on a boat in Alaska with her back then husband. Americans would come for Halibut and Salmon fishing. She saw a lot of whales too during that time… I could tell from pictures in the living room. She also lived in Mozambique and ended up working for years on the well-known boat “The Spirit of New Zealand” as a Chef cooking for 40 kids plus crew – Remarkable!
Just as Amanda, Sue openend her home to me and welcomed me as Whanau (family). Being a Chef I got spoilt with lovely homemade food. Amanda gave me in 2002 her recipy for muffins, from Sue I got the one for scones! As the Waikato river belongs to their backyard, Sue tends to go for a swim on a daily base. What I didn’t realize, is that besides of the swing she created, she also jumps off the rocks into the river. One day she invited me to do so myself.
There you go, I thought to myself standing 5 metres high looking down to the clear turquoise and cadet blue river. I couldn’t move. I was calm. I was terrified too. Sue was right behind me. “Look, no rocks, all clear! You can do it.” She tried to encourage me. “Yeh…. don’t know… . It is really high” was all I could say.
After a couple of minutes, they felt like hours, she came up with a brilliant idea. “You, want me to show you how to do it, right? Wait, let me put on my togs.”
So, a few minutes later I overcame my fear. I did THE JUMP. Just as Sue had showed me. What was Amanda’s comment on it “You definitely shouldn t be out done by a 76-year-old!”
CRAZY WHANAU that’s for sure!
