Paving the way for Maiaorere

Maiaorere was a 14yr old young man who one minute was bombing off the Opononi wharf to fighting for his life the next. June 2022 it all started with a cold, a diagnosis of bacterial meningitis, shortly followed a helicopter ride to Starship, a few brain surgeries, strokes, and various other life preserving procedures. Maiaorere spent 25 days in Aucklands Starship PICU, before moving onto ward 26a (for another 30 odd days) then eventually The Wilson Centre for Rehab(for 7 months). Though our lives have moved so fast since 2022, we are thankful our boy is alive, he isn’t able to talk anymore but he is learning to walk again and he is finally wanting to leave the house.

The costs of providing a suitable home/ space has stretched our mortgage and personal loans over and beyond what one main source of income can cover (I’m the main source of income and it’s getting exhausting trying to work overtime to get things our boy needs). We prioritised the inside of the house and space outside over a number of other things that needed doing. We have been in our self funded modified home for a year and our driveway is proving to be treacherous and unsafe for our boy. He has fallen a number of times while mobilising in his chair and has had a number of near-misses when walking on the uneven terrain (and when wet) mosh pit. We have put many bandaids over the driveway which are only temporary and only last as long as the rain isn’t around.