Koha for Cam and Merryn through Spinal Cord Injury recovery
Supporting Cam and Merryn on the rehabilitation journey of Cam’s Spinal Cord Injury.
Wanaka, Otago
On Tuesday, 24 February 2026, Cam Mitchell had an accident while riding his motorbike from home in Lake Hāwea to work in Queenstown. He sustained a serious Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and is currently paralysed from the sternum down.
Cam sustained an injury to his T6 vertebrae, significantly impacting his spinal cord, with a current assessment of ASIA A (most severe). In addition to this, he has a fractured ankle and has had thumb surgery to reattach a ligament.
Cam has a long road ahead, but he's remaining very positive. He’s in the Burwood Spinal Unit in Christchurch, and we expect to be here for around 4-5 months before heading home to continue his rehabilitation, which will take around 2 years.
We’ve been inundated with messages from people wanting to help, but not quite sure how to support from afar. The most helpful support right now is financial. We absolutely don’t expect anyone to give anything, but this platform gives you the option to provide koha if you’d like to help us through this time.
Any koha would be used to support both of us in whatever way is needed as Cam navigates his SCI recovery in the months and years ahead. Merryn is self-employed, and she does not have access to any support for loss of income during this time as she focuses her energy on supporting and caring for Cam. We’re exploring many alternative treatments and therapies to supplement Cam’s rehab to give him the best chance he can get. All of these are self funded.
Use of funds
Funds will go towards supporting Cam and Merryn through this time, including living costs while in Christchurch, outings for Cam, healthy food and meal support, Merryn’s loss of income, and other day-to-day needs throughout recovery.
Latest update
7.5 Weeks In 17 April 2026
A huge thank you for all the support, we are beyond grateful! It's now been over 7 weeks since Cam's accident. He's been doing incredibly well, acing everything that's been thrown at him so far.
He recently got the cast removed from his hand and received clearance to use his ankle. Yesterday he was able to use an assisted standing machine to stand up for the first time since the accident! This is huge, doing this regularly will help maintain the bones and muscles in his lower body.
He's also been doing well at learning to transfer from his bed to the chair. This is a big step towards more independence.
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