From working on a farm, Mr Hitchman faced not being able to return to work.
"The tendons in my leg are gone, and they reckon I will be like this for a long, long time."
He went from an active lifestyle including volunteering roles to "sitting at home doing nothing".
This had him feeling "hopeless".
His doctor suggested a mobility scooter might enable Mr Hitchman to be more mobile and improve his level of wellbeing,
But on a sickness benefit the cost was prohibitive.
"I just couldn't afford it.
"You can lose a lot of money if something goes wrong," Mr Hitchman said.
Servants Health Centre patient advocate Cathy Tucker helped Mr Hitchman get in touch with Good Loans, a community finance partnership between the Bank of New Zealand and Good Shepherd New Zealand.
It offers low-interest or no-interest loans as an alternative to high-interest, high-cost loans, sometimes called payday loans.
In Dunedin the loan scheme is administered by Presbyterian Support Otago.
Community financial capability manager Paul Ryder said Mr Hitchman’s mobility scooter cost $5000.
If he had applied to a payday loan company, with interest of 30%, the cost could have escalated to about $7500, plus an establishment fee of up to $250.
Instead, with a low-interest loan from Good Loans, the cost would be $5540.
Mr Hitchman said having the loan enabled him to buy the mobility scooter and get out of the house.
"To me this loan has been the best thing in my life."
Community finance team leader Mel Aicken said anyone could get in touch if they were finding themselves in hardship.
Not everyone would be approved for a loan because the assessment of affordability was "really key".
"It is important to us that we don’t put anyone into any hardship," Ms Aicken said.
Having a "financial checkup" enabled people to understand more about their finances and see where improvements might be able to be made.
"It is about bringing some insight into that."
- The loan scheme is open to all Dunedin residents. For more information, phone 0800 477-711 or email communityfinance@psotago.org.nz
