Taieri teen's 'amazing recovery' from spinal injury

Taieri teenager Austen Haig was facing the prospect of life in a wheelchair after suffering a serious spinal injury in a rugby accident four months ago, but now he is walking and "looking forward to be able to run again".

Haig (19) credits positive thinking, determination and the rehabilitation team at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch for his remarkable recovery.

"The mind is a very positive thing and I think it played a really big part in my recovery."

Haig was given a 20% to 30% chance of being able to walk again, and in the days just after his accident he could only move his wrists and biceps, and occasionally shrug his shoulders.

Lying on his hospital bed and unable to move his legs, Haig said he never gave up hope of being able to walk again.

"Every day I kept trying, every second when I was lying there I was thinking, always trying to move my legs."

Haig injured his spine while playing hooker for the Taieri Colts' side at Peter Johnstone Park on April 16.

"I threw the ball in at a lineout and our No 2 jumper dropped it. I picked it up and ran down the sideline.

"I got tackled and when the forwards drove over me, I somehow got flipped over and landed on my head."

Haig was taken to Dunedin Hospital where it was discovered he had dislocated his C6 vertebrae and his spinal cord had been crushed.

Through the use of weights on a halo brace, the dislocated vertebrae was put back in place at Dunedin Hospital. He was flown to Christchurch Hospital the next day, where his C5 and C6 vertebrae were fused.

He was told he would have to wait at least eight weeks for his spinal cord to "get over the shock". Only then would the severity of his injury be known.

"It was so frustrating. So hard. I would get headaches from trying so hard to move my legs.

"Your mind wants to do everything normal but you just can't," he said.

The breakthrough came one morning, when he told his mother, Helen Haig, he thought he had been able to flex a muscle in his leg.

"I was ecstatic. I'd been trying to move my leg all night," Haig said.

Mrs Haig said she watched as a ligament in her son's foot twitched.

They called a physiotherapist, who told them it was probably a muscle spasm, but mother and son said they knew better.

"It was a gradual awakening after that, and he just got better and better," Mrs Haig said.

Mrs Haig and her husband Murray were thankful for the support they had received during Austen's "amazing recovery".

Pupils at his former secondary school, John McGlashan College, recently fundraised $2500 for Burwood.

Haig took his first steps only eight weeks after his accident and once he was back on his feet his rehabilitation surprised even the medical team at Burwood.

He returned home to the Taieri two weeks ago - more than a month before his initial discharge date.

The second-year chemistry and finance student at the University of Otago says he plans to focus on his rehabilitation for the rest of the year and he is determined to get back to playing sports.

"I'm pretty lucky. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people to get back to how I am now. It took a lot of hard work from me, too," Haig said.

The Haig family is one of Otago rugby's best known.

Austen's grandfather, Bert, played for Otago, and two great-uncles, Jimmy and Laurie, were All Blacks.