Jamie’s story: ‘If you can’t stand up, stand out’
Video transcript for Jamie's story
Audio:
Background music throughout, gentle and sombre piano with atmospheric synthesiser.
Visual:
The screen shows a close-up view of a sand dune, with the sand swirling around in the wind.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JO ASTWOOD, MOTHER OF JAMIE ASTWOOD
She was very nearly unconscious, very dazed, thought she was dying.
Visual:
Screen changes to wider drone shot looking down on large sand dunes.
Jo Astwood standing on the deck of her house with a light breeze rustling the leaves of green trees in the background. She has shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes and is wearing a pale green top.
Transcript:
and said, ‘Mum I can't feel my legs’. So that was when we knew that she'd broken something.
Visual:
Photo of Jo Astwood with her daughters, Jamie and Holly – all are wearing brightly-coloured clothes and smiling at the camera.
TEXT ON SCREEN: At 10-years-old, Jamie Astwood’s life changed forever.
A high drone shot shows a beach with large sand dunes rising up behind it.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Her family were on the last day of a summer holiday when they went dune surfing.
Photos of Jamie as a child doing various fun activities – playing on a swing, riding a cart, on a horse, on an inflatable tyre in the water.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JAMIE
I was quite a daredevil child
Visual:
Animated photo of Jamie sliding down a sand dune on a boogie board.
Transcript:
so I climbed right up to the very top and mum was going, ‘You know, don't go any further’.
Visual:
Another drone shot of the sand dunes, this one closer up before slowly panning out.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JO, JAMIE’S MUM
A lot of speed, no brakes, she couldn’t dig her feet in.
Visual:
Another animated photo of Jamie sliding down a sand dune on a boogie board, this one side on from further away.
Transcript:
I didn't see the rest until she somersaulted three times in the air like a ragdoll.
VOICE OF JAMIE
What’s happened to me?
Visual:
Jamie in a room in her house, with a plain white wall and part of a mirror in the background. She is a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, green eyes and is wearing a plain white top.
Transcript:
I was very confused, I wasn't 100 per cent sure about what was going on.
Visual:
Photo of Jamie after the accident, strapped into a hospital stretcher and covered in blankets.
Transcript:
I just remember thinking to myself, ‘I can't feel my legs’.
Visual:
Close-up shot of the propellers of a helicopter spinning around.
Jo speaks from the deck.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JO
The helicopter arrived and I didn't want to get on, I didn't know what to do, and Blair said, ‘Jo, you’ve got to go’.
Visual:
Cellphone footage of Jamie on a stretcher being wheeled towards a helicopter.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Jamie had scans which confirmed she had broken her back and damaged her spinal cord.
Transcript:
That night they sat us down and said, ‘Jamie's going to be in a chair for the rest of her life’.
Visual:
Jo speaks from the deck.
Transcript:
And, at that moment, it just seemed not real and it took a long time to process that. ‘How could they not fix my daughter?’
Visual:
Mid shot of Jamie as she speaks. Screen changes to full body shot showing Jamie in her wheelchair.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JAMIE
And I asked mum, ‘Well, how are they going to put a cast around my whole back to fix it?’ Because I didn't even think that maybe I might need surgery.
Visual:
Close up photo of Jamie’s back with bandaged stitches.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Jamie had surgery to insert two large rods into her spine.
Photos of the x-ray images show Jamie’s back with the rods.
TEXT ON SCREEN: She was then admitted to a rehabilitation centre for two months.
Visual:
Jamie speaks.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JAMIE
Because I was so young it helped me just to adapt way easier and pick up my new life in the chair much easier than maybe someone who had already grown up able-bodied.
Visual:
Jo speaks from the deck.
Photos of Jamie as a child doing various seated or wheelchair-friendly activities – at the beach, joining her family on a walk through the forest, on a boat, kayaking with family, participating in family photos.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JO
We talked to her and said she would never be alone through this, so she didn’t ever have to be scared. We were told not to look into the future, just to take each day at a time, so we did that.
Visual:
Jo speaks.
Screen changes to Jamie doing a friend’s make-up, while seated in her wheelchair.
Family photo shows Jo and Jamie alongside Jamie’s father and sister.
Transcript:
But one of the biggest things was actually watching people watch Jamie and stare at her and they couldn't figure out why she was in the chair. But we told her she just needed to smile. She went into a room, be the first one to say hello, she would light up the room actually, yeah. People were always inspired by her because of her smile.
Visual:
Behind the scenes of the family photo, all laughing and Jamie’s father playfully pulling bunny ears behind Jo and Jamie.
Screen changes to a back shot of Jamie in her wheelchair, wheeling through the driveway/garden.
Jo speaks.
Transcript:
Knowing that we have got ACC to help us, it's been such a blessing, it has been amazing. I don't know how we would have done it actually without them.
Visual:
Jamie wheeling through her kitchen.
Jo speaks.
Screen changes to a over shoulder shot of Jamie in baking followed by Jo, Jamie’s mum joining her in baking.
Transcript:
As soon as the accident happened and Jamie and I were in Auckland, ACC contacted my husband, because he was still down in Hamilton, threw a team together with physios, OT, psychologist, building team.
Visual:
Shots of the wheelchair-friendly modified bathroom.
Jo speaks.
Transcript:
They were able to modify a bathroom straight away for us to use when we came home, I could contact the ACC case manager at any time
Visual:
Jamie wheels through the hallway into the garage to her car.
Shot of Jamie driving.
Transcript:
and then, through her journey, they've helped her purchase a car, get adaptions done on that, and actually, once she got her car, she was away. She was free, she’s hardly home now.
Visual:
Jamie having parked her car and wheeling towards a building.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Jamie leads a full and independent life, with lifelong support from ACC if needed.
Shot of Jamie wheeling through an office to her desk.
TEXT ON SCREEN: She works for the Te Tari Pūreke Firearms Safety Authority, responsible for reviewing firearms applications.
Visual:
Margaret Ferguson, Jamie’s supervisor speaks from her desk.
Margaret is sitting at her desk, two desktop screens and a phone behind her. She has short light brown hair, dark blue eyes and is wearing a light blue patterned top with pink accents.
Screen changes to shots of Jamie’s desk – origami on the desktop screen, a wheelchair figurine at the base of the screen, Jamie on the phone at her desk.
Transcript:
VOICE OF MARGARET, JAMIE’S SUPERVISOR
I just really rate her. You know, she never makes a deal about it, she just carries on and works really hard.
Visual:
Shots of Margaret and Jamie chatting at Jamie’s desk.
Transcript:
I think there's a lot more to come for Jamie you know with her career. We don’t have enough people in minority positions I suppose you’d say, she's changed a lot of the attitudes about people.
Visual:
Jamie driving a speed boat on the water.
Screen changes to a wide drone shots of the boat gliding through the water.
TEXT ON SCREEN: Jamie is proud of how far she has come.
Transcript:
VOICE OF JAMIE
When I was 16, I kind of thought, ‘How am I ever going to be independent?’ I didn't really think it was possible. It's a horrible thing that happened
Visual:
Jamie in her wheelchair speaks from a room in her house.
Close up shot of Jamie.
Screen changes to shots of Jamie driving her speed boat – with someone attached to the boat water boarding, Jamie joined by a group of people on the boat, close up shot over the shoulder of Jamie driving the boat.
Transcript:
But the things that accident has taught me and how much I’ve grown and kind of learned over the last 10 years has had a huge impact in my life. I’m fully independent now and I’m really happy and I’m really proud of myself for that.
Visual:
Wide panning drone shot of the boat gliding on the water.
Audio:
Background music gets louder, gentle and atmospheric synthesiser.
Visual:
ACC blue gradient screen.
TEXT ON SCREEN: There for Jamie if needed and helping her lead an independent life.
TEXT ON SCREEN: It’s what we’re doing right now.
At just 10-years-old, Jamie Astwood’s life was turned upside down when she broke her back in a dune boarding accident. But her positive attitude has helped her lead an independent life, and set an inspirational example for others.
‘Mum, I can’t feel my legs.’
Those are among the worst words a mother could ever hear.
Seconds earlier, Jo Astwood could only look on as her 10-year-old daughter, Jamie, somersaulted through the air ‘like a rag doll’.
The Astwood family had been wrapping up their Northland summer holiday in 2013 with a spot of dune surfing when disaster struck.
“I was a daredevil child and I was having the time of my life,” Jamie remembers of that fateful day.
“I went all the way to the top of the dune, despite mum telling me not to.”
On her last run, Jamie hit a patch of grass at the bottom of the dunes. She was thrown off her boogie board, doing two big somersaults before landing in a heap.
“I had a crowd of people looking down on me. I couldn’t feel my legs and I was pretty scared about what that meant,” she says.
That same sense of fear was also racing through the mind of her mum.
“She was nearly unconscious, very dazed and thought she was dying,” Jo says.
“We just knew she must have broken something.”
'How could they not fix my daughter?'
A helicopter soon arrived to whisk Jamie to hospital – where the family’s worst fears were confirmed.
Jamie had broken her back and damaged her spinal cord. She was paralysed from the chest down – classified as a T4 paraplegic.
“That night, they sat us down and said, ‘Jamie is going to be in a chair for the rest of her life’,” Jo says.
“It just didn’t seem real, it took a long time to process that. I just thought, ‘How could they not fix my daughter?’”
Jamie and her whānau were facing an uncertain future – but ACC was on hand to help her recover and eventually get back to leading a full and independent life.
“Knowing we’ve got ACC to help us has been such a blessing,” Jo says.
“It’s been amazing and I don’t know how we would have done it without them.”
The rocky road to recovery
Despite that much-needed support, the road to recovery was far from smooth sailing for Jamie.
She firstly spent several weeks at Auckland’s Starship Hospital, where she marked the days around her 11th birthday by having surgery to insert two large rods into her spine.
She was then admitted to The Wilson’s Centre in Auckland – a rehabilitation centre for children – for two months.
“It was a pretty difficult time,” she says. “I had to start again. I had to learn how to live from a wheelchair. It was a really challenging time for me and my family.”
Jamie had her whole life ahead of her but everything had been tipped upside down.
She believes her young age was actually a blessing in disguise.
“I was able to adapt pretty easily because I was so young. It’s not like I had lived a full life and grown up and then this had happened to me. Whenever I was asked to do something new or take on a new challenge, I would try my hardest to do it and give it my all.”
The support of her family was the pillar throughout it all. Her mum was with her every day of her rehabilitation and was her rock.
“Mum was amazing. I know that time would have been very difficult on her and dad, but they never showed that. I have no idea what it was like for them to watch me go through that, but I’m so grateful they were brave and strong for me.”
Jamie Astwood, right, with mum Jo and sister Holly the day before her accident.
Facing up to a different future
Jamie had to be brave herself.
After her stay at The Wilson’s Centre, she re-entered the real world with a spinal cord impairment.
“We’d been in our own little bubble. There were nurses constantly checking on us. You could call and they’d be there in a minute,” she says.
“When we got home it was hard to get used to. I came back to my old house in my wheelchair, and it was a big adjustment. It was weird to see my house differently – it wasn’t accessible at all.”
ACC played a leading role in Jamie’s rehabilitation, covering all of her medical costs and some home modifications.
We also paid for mum to be her primary caregiver during her recovery.
“ACC have been brilliant to deal with,” Jo says.
“As soon as the accident happened, they threw a team together with physios, occupational therapists, psychologists and a building team to support Jamie and our family.”
‘I always try to put a smile on my face’
Spending days lying on her back at The Wilson’s Centre brought another life-changing moment – this one far more positive.
Jamie and her mum met Catriona Williams, who founded the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Trust. It proved to be a decisive chat.
“When we first met Catriona, she said to Jamie, ‘People don't want to be around negative people. So you have to be the positive one – if you can’t stand up, stand out’,” Jo remembers.
“She’s kept that mindset and has always smiled. I mean sure, there’s been tears and upsetting times, but she has always bounced back to be positive.”
Jamie now has a maturity and confidence that belie her 21 years.
Her positive attitude has seen her selected to be a CatWalk ambassador.
“I decided to focus on making the most of my situation,” Jamie says.
“I always try to put a smile on my face. People would rather be around someone who is positive, smiling and looking for the good in every situation. You never know what other people are going through.
“I want to show people that, yes, my situation is not the greatest, but I’m super positive and grateful for living life.”
Jamie is thankful to have full use of her arms as many lose that ability with a spinal cord impairment.
Jamie with royal family member Zara Tindall (née Phillips) at the 10-year CatWalk birthday bash, three years after her accident.
Building a new life
After leaving the rehabilitation centre, Jamie started at Fairfield Intermediate in Hamilton – where she was the only person in a wheelchair.
She moved on to Waikato Diocesan School for Girls and took on life as a teenager.
“I didn’t get treated any differently by my friends. It was nice to be just like everyone else.”
At high school, she enjoyed her art subjects and a new passion was born.
“As girly as this sounds, I love make-up and fashion. I love doing my friends’ make-up for balls and parties,” she says.
“I love connecting with people in that way. I love it when I do someone’s make-up and they feel good. Seeing that smile on their face is really special.”
Jamie now works as an administrator for Te Tari Pūreke Firearms Safety Authority in Hamilton, responsible for reviewing firearms applications.
“Our team’s role is to keep our community safe. We make sure the people who get firearms are fit and proper – that’s our goal,” she says proudly.
“We have a great team. I’m still working out what I want to do long term but, for now, I love my role.”
Jamie behind the wheel of her ski boat with sister Holly.
Making a difference by inspiring others
Jamie bought a ski boat this summer and wants to build up to attempt sit-skiing.
“She loves the water and has a need for speed. So it’s going to be great to see her drive the boat and try to sit-ski,” Jo says.
“We’re proud parents when we think about our girl and how far she has come.”
Jamie is likewise proud to be a CatWalk ambassador and to be using her story to help anyone going through something similar.
“It’s great to be able to inspire others – I love sharing my story,” she says.
“If I can make a difference to someone else’s life, then that’s an opportunity I’ll always look to take.”
Jamie with her friends, whose make-up she loves doing.
'Have a hmmm' to keep having fun
Every year, thousands of New Zealanders become injured like Jamie and aren’t able to enjoy the things they love to do.
When we get hurt, it affects our family, friends, workmates and others too.
The good news is that nearly all injuries are preventable. If we can see it coming, we can stop it from happening.
If we assess things before we get stuck in and choose to do things safely we can keep doing the things we love (or have to do!).
