E hoki ana ki te mahi i muri mai i tētahi wharangaGetting back to work after injury

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The screen shows a man walking towards a rugby field. Screen changes to a mid-up shot of Carl Perry, PE teacher and director of rugby at St Peter's School, Cambridge.

Transcript

Carl: I think I would’ve been in a pretty dark, challenging place if I hadn’t been able to come to work.

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The screen shows mid-shot of a group of young rugby players, tackling and passing the ball on the field. The screen changes to a shot of Carl holding a rugby ball chatting to a man on the field.

Transcript

Carl: Recovery at work was a great option, mainly because I was so well supported in my role.

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The screen shows mid-shot of Carl and his team huddling together as he speaks. The screen changes to a shot of Carl in his classroom briefing students, followed by shots of him in his office and walking down the hallway of the school.

Transcript

Carl: I was actually able to be out on the field with the team or in the gym with the class.

I think it kept me sane, rather than sitting on the couch knowing my work is going to pile up, who’s going to do my admin, who’s going to cover my classes?

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The screen shows shot of a woman, Te Aroha Keenan, director of sport at St Peter's School, Cambridge, seated in her office speaking to the camera. The screen changes to shots of Carl on the field with students.

Transcript

Te Aroha: He loves getting involved and he loves our students.

Any time he can get in front of them, he always presents the best, you know, of himself.

Visual

The screen shows Carl seated on a chair on the rugby field speaking to the camera. The screen changes to shots of Carl playing netball. Followed by photos of Carl in the hospital and with a cast on.

Transcript

Carl: I was playing social netball for a sports department team and then just went to take off to catch the ball, then it all just came tumbling down.

It just felt like someone had ran from the back wall and kicked me right in the Achilles and it was fully ruptured.

That’s probably the worst injury I’ve had in my time playing sport.

It was tough but once we got to A and E and got it all in a cast, then I kind of worried about like, oh no, what’s going to happen at work? I need to get there, I’ve got too many jobs to do.

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The screen shows Te Aroha Keenan, seated in her office speaking to the camera. The screen changes to shots of Carl on the field with students.

Transcript

Te Aroha: He did his Achilles, which was tragic for us because we knew what his involvement was in the sport and coaching and PE teaching – all that kind of stuff.

We knew it was going to be hard for him to stop and just not do anything.

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Photo of Carl’s cast and moon boot.

Text on screen: Carl talked to his doctor about a Recovery at Work programme, which allows people to do alternative duties or reduced hours while they recover from injury.

A moving shot following the road passing the St Peter’s Cambridge school.

Text on screen: Research shows recovering at work can be good for an injured person’s physical and mental wellbeing – and can help them get better, sooner.

A moving shot of the school’s empty football and rugby fields.

Text on screen: ACC can provide a rehabilitation programme, financial support, equipment and help getting to and from work.

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The screen shows Carl seated on a chair on the rugby field side on, changing to Carl speaking directly to the camera.

Transcript

Carl: He put me on a light duties medical certificate, so it meant I could actually be at work.

When I passed this on to my line managers, they were real supportive.

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The screen shows Te Aroha, seated in her office speaking to the camera. The screen changes to shots of Te Aroha and Carl having a conversation.

Transcript

Te Aroha: We always discussed with him, you know, where are you at at this stage? What has your physio said? What has your doctor said? Have you been signed off? What support have you got? Do you have to use the crutches, because you’re not using them right now?

Those sorts of things, so those checks and balances with him.

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The screen shows Carl walking through the gate of his home, embracing his young daughter.

Transcript

Te Aroha: He could do a lot of the stuff that he was doing at home, in the comfort of his home with his leg up.

Visual:
The screen shows shots of Carl at home playing with his three young daughters, followed by a shot of his wife Anna Perry playing with their daughters.

Transcript

Carl: I think home time was probably the toughest. My three little girls are full of energy and they mean the world to me.

So not being able to be like 100 per cent engaged in changing nappies or bedtime or those little things, that was pretty challenging.

And just seeing my wife having to step up and do all of that, that was pretty tough.

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The screen shows shots of Anna Perry, Carl's wife, at home speaking to the camera followed by a shot of Carl and Anna seated on the floor whilst playing with their three daughters.

Transcript

Anna: Yeah, the hardest thing was managing the kids, getting to appointments when we don’t have family here in Cambridge. So that was just us going to all the appointments, Carl out of action, me managing the household.

Our oldest one, Bella, had just started school – it happened on her first day of school. So that was all new, we were just sort of transitioning into that.

So it was, yes, a bit of a stressful time.

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The screen shows a wide moving drone shot of the rugby field.

Transcript

Te Aroha: If there were things to be put out or cones to be put out, we did them for him or set up for the day.

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The screen shows Te Aroha, seated in her office speaking to the camera.

Transcript

Te Aroha: Other staff would go in and do those sorts of things and ensure that he was sitting on a chair and putting his foot up whenever he could.

Visual

Slow motion shot of Carl facing the camera with the rugby game in the background.

Test on screen: ACC also played a key role in supporting Carl’s recovery.

Visual

The screen shows shots of Carl getting physiotherapy on his leg. The screen changes to moving shot zooming out of the school, followed by images of Carl in crutches over the shot.

Transcript

Carl: ACC was great, obviously made sure my injury was covered first and foremost. And then in terms of making sure I had regular physio appointments.

When I tried to be a hero on crutches and felt like I needed something else.

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The screen shows a bird’s eye view wide moving drone shot of the school.

Transcript

Carl: I got in touch with them and they were able to provide me with a knee scooter to help me get around the school.

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The screen shows Carl on a physiotherapy table with Lucarne Dolley, his physiotherapist, inspecting and massaging his leg.

Transcript

Lucarne: It’s looking a lot less thick through here aye, than it was.

Carl: Yeh, definitely, but compared to the other side, it’s still way, way thicker.

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The screen shows a poster of ‘The Muscular System’ followed by shots of the physio office. The screen shows Lucarne Dolley seated by the physio table speaking to the camera.

Transcript

Lucerne: I think recovery at work is super important because that’s a huge part of all of our lives.

It’s huge socially, like mental health-wise as well, getting people back to what they enjoy and what kind of gives them a purpose.

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The screen shows Carl on a physiotherapy table with Lucarne Dolley, massaging his leg. The screen changes to shots of Carl exercising and in the gym.

Transcript

Lucerne: It also kind of prompts things like actually, this is something new, I need to be able to do this and that can kind of give us some goals to work towards as well.

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Slow motion shot of Carl on the rugby field.

Text on screen: Most injuries are preventable – and Carl has some wise words on staying injury free.

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The screen shows Carl seated on a chair on the rugby field side on, changing to Carl speaking directly to the camera.

Transcript

Carl: If I was to look back now on when I did my injury, maybe I wasn’t as prepared as I could’ve been.

The older you get, the more you actually have to look after yourself, warm up, make sure every muscle’s firing.

So I think that’s one key point.

Visual

Slow motion shot of Carl, his wife Anna and two of their daughters sitting on the step of their deck. Followed by a blue screen.

Text on screen: Recovery at work takes a team effort – from the injured person, their employer and their health provider, as well as whānau and workmates. Learn more about what role you can play in recovery at work at acc.co.nz. Helping people recover at work. It’s what we’re doing right now.

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