Infinite Clothing co-owner Rose Fisk, a seasoned second-hand clothing retailer of about 15 years, said the back surgery she had last year had resulted in too many complications for her to continue working.
"I feel like it’s just been taken away from me," Mrs Fisk said.
"I didn’t know I was going to get all these complications from my surgery ...
"Being on waiting lists for too long and how broken our health system is - there’s hundreds of thousands of me, nationwide, that are going through this.
"It’s just really awful because now I have to give up my dream."
The Princes St store’s last day of trading would be Saturday, February 7.
The former manager of popular second-hand clothing store Toffs, which closed in November 2021, Mrs Fisk said she started Infinite Clothing two and a-half years ago because she loved "the story of clothes" and diverting them from landfill.
She was "absolutely devastated" by the closure and confirmed the second-hand clothing store would be her last.
"I’ve done the whole crying for a week and I’ve been angry, absolutely gutted.
"It’s always been my dream to have my own shop."
Mrs Fisk said she had been on a waiting list for back surgery when her symptoms worsened and developed into a situation requiring emergency treatment.
She now had to wear a catheter fulltime and a brace for her numb foot.
Her back and nerves were continuing to deteriorate as well.
"My back is just completely shot.
"In a work environment, I shouldn’t lift anything really more heavy than a pen."
If she could have sold the business, she would have, Mrs Fisk said.
But as it was still a relatively new store, it would be different once the face of the business left, she said.
It had also not done so well for the 13 weeks she was away for emergency surgery last year.
"It was only just starting coming into its own before I got taken to emergency surgery."
Mrs Fisk said she had been around for a long time and still saw the same regulars from her days at Toffs.
Customers sometimes came in just to have a chat or for some company.
"I had one regular that was crying the other day, she was just absolutely gutted.
"It’s going to be really tough not seeing the people that I see all the time."
Several patients have shared their horror stories of hospital wait times with the Otago Daily Times, including a 5-year-old waiting 10 months for elective dental surgery, a patient waiting 18 months for surgery on a bulged disc and another still being on a waiting list for a hysterectomy after almost a year.
Figures released by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) last month showed only 54% of Southern patients waited less than four months for elective treatment, the worst-performing health region in the country.
The region does not fare much better when it comes to the wait times for a specialist appointment, only 56% waiting less than four months - making it the third-worst region.
HNZ Southern operations group director Craig Ashton said at the time several factors have impacted long wait lists across all districts, including increased acute demand, the increasing number of patient referrals, workforce shortages as well as recent industrial action.
