Simone Frewin has been on one heck of a roller-coaster since late 2023.
On November 15, 2023, the Paparoa woman had a freak ATV accident which left her in a very bad way.
Her pelvis was smashed into eight pieces (with four large fractures) and she popped the AC joint in her left shoulder too. A couple of Northland Rescue Helicopter rides later (first to Whangārei Hospital and then Auckland Hospital), two surgeons carefully pieced Simone’s pelvis back together and secured them with plates and screws so healing could begin.
While Simone still has a shoulder operation to go and is in constant pain, her attitude is amazing, she is hugely positive about life, has made massive strides in her healing and is even back riding her beloved horse – very, very slowly!
Despite the trauma Simone has been through, she still has her sense of humour and a vibrancy in her eyes as she looks back on her accident.
“I remember asking the paramedics when I could ride horses again and telling the crew I have always wanted to have a go in a Sikorsky but this is not how I wanted to do it,” Simone smiles, while recounting her accident.
“I was at the neighbour’s property with my husband Bryce, checking horses. We had our usual 75 litres of water in 3 x 25Ltr containers strapped on the front of the quad bike (as we’d done for 15 years when watering animals next-door) and Bryce had just jumped on the quad for the journey up the driveway.”
Simone was accelerating uphill but was still only doing between 20 to 25kms/hr, when suddenly there was a mechanical failure and with a bang, the quad flipped end over end. They now know that a belt broke in the front of the bike and got caught in another pully, causing the quad to feel like it had hit an invisible wall as it stopped dead in its tracks and inertia carried the rear end over the front end.
Bryce (Deputy Fire Chief at the Paparoa Fire Station) was thrown clear of the bike, and over Simone’s head as she was deposited on the gravel driveway, directly in front of the quad, which then somersaulted on top of her end on, with the additional 75kgs of water, right across her pelvis.
Simone knew her pelvis was in really bad shape and was yelling at Bryce to get the bike off her, which he did with one hand – no doubt with the help of adrenalin.
“All you want in that situation is for someone to take control. Someone that knows what they are doing to give you the best possible care and that’s exactly how I felt with the Northland Rescue Helicopter crew.”
After her operation, Simone had a further four weeks of bed rest (in nappies, as a bed pan wasn’t possible because she couldn’t leave the bed), four weeks in a wheelchair and a further four weeks learning to walk again with a walking frame. That was followed by a couple of weeks of alternating between a wheelchair, walking frame and crutches while she slowly regained strength movement.
Sadly, Simone was contemplating having to shut down her increasingly successful, fledgling business – Feed2U – which specialises in delivering New Zealand made, eco-friendly, equine and stock food brands direct to land-owner feed sheds throughout Northland.
But in a show of extraordinary community spirit, her customers simply wouldn’t hear of it and brainstormed ways to help it live on and bounce back – which it has!
Even in her darkest days during recovery, Simone says customers would send messages of support.
“They gave me the strength and motivation to keep doing my rehab exercises, even when they were painful, or my body simply wouldn’t respond; to get out of bed when I was finally able but didn’t want to; and the inspiration to find ways to make it all happen and get everything back on track again. I want to thank them for that.”
As for the Northland Rescue Helicopter service?
“We simply cannot be without our Northland Rescue Helicopters. It’s non-negotiable in rural Northland when we are so far away from everything and there are so few first responders available. It saves lives – there is absolutely no doubt about it,” says Simone.
“After my accident, I had an excruciating 45-minute wait for these guys and an even more excruciating ambulance ride down our very corrugated, potholed gravel road to meet them!
“I hate to imagine how much longer and how much worse it would have been if the Northland Rescue Helicopter hadn’t been there for me – not once but twice.
“How much longer and how much worse would it have been to be transported by ambulance over Northland’s rough roads in an ambulance during the one-hour journey to Whangarei Hospital, let alone more than a two-hour journey to Auckland Hospital with my pelvis in eight pieces?
“Well, I had a little insight into this the week after my flight, when post-operation I was loaded into an ambulance (supposedly with strong drugs on board) and transported from Auckland Hospital back to Whangārei Hospital.
“By the time I arrived, my pelvis was in spasm and the pain levels were off the charts! It took many, many more heavy-duty drugs, lots of Nitrous Oxide and over an hour to get my pain back down to six or seven on the pain scale.
“That could’ve all been avoided if I could have had one more Northland Rescue Helicopter flight. This Northland-owned service is absolutely critical to the people in our region and I thank them for all the care they provide for people in our community – in their time of need. The Northland Rescue Helicopter service needs our support, just as we rely on them.”
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Simone Frewin has been on one heck of a roller-coaster since late 2023.
On November 15, 2023, the Paparoa woman had a freak ATV accident which left her in a very bad way.
Her pelvis was smashed into eight pieces (with four large fractures) and she popped the AC joint in her left shoulder too. A couple of Northland Rescue Helicopter rides later (first to Whangārei Hospital and then Auckland Hospital), where two surgeons carefully pieced Simone’s pelvis back together and secured them with plates and screws so healing could begin.
While Simone still has a shoulder operation to go and is in constant pain, her attitude is amazing, she is hugely positive about life and has made massive strides in her healing and is even back riding her beloved horse – very, very slowly!
Despite the trauma Simone has been through she still has her sense of humour and a vibrancy in her eyes as she looks back on her accident.
“I remember asking the paramedics when I could ride horses again and telling the crew I have always wanted to have a go in a Sikorsky but this is not how I wanted to do it,” Simone smiles, while recounting her accident.
“I was at the neighbours’ property with my husband Bryce, checking horses. We had our usual 75 litres of water in 3 x 25Ltr containers, strapped on the front of the quad bike (as we’d done for 15 years when watering animals next-door) and Bryce had just jumped on the quad for the journey up the driveway.”
Simone was accelerating uphill but was still only doing between 20 to 25kms/hr, when suddenly there was a mechanical failure and with a bang the quad flipped end over end. They now know that a belt broke in the front of the bike got caught in another pully, causing the quad to feel like it had hit an invisible wall as it stopped dead in its tracks and inertia carried the rear end over the front end.
Bryce (Deputy Fire Chief at the Paparoa Fire Station) was thrown clear of the bike, and over Simone’s head as she was deposited on the gravel driveway, directly in front of the quad which then somersaulted on top of her end on, with the additional 75kgs of water, right across her pelvis.
Simone knew her pelvis was in really bad shape and was yelling at Bryce to get the bike off her, which he did with one hand – no doubt with the help of adrenalin.
“All you want in that situation is for someone to take control. Someone that knows what they are doing to give you the best possible care and that’s exactly how I felt with the Northland Rescue Helicopter crew.”
After her operation, Simone had a further four weeks of bed rest (in nappies as a bed pan wasn’t possible because she couldn’t leave the bed), four weeks in a wheelchair and a further four weeks learning to walk again with a walking frame. That was followed by a couple of weeks of alternating between wheelchair, walking frame and crutches while she slowly regained strength movement.
Sadly, Simone was contemplating having to shut down her increasingly successful fledgling business – Feed2U – which specialises in delivering New Zealand made, eco-friendly, equine and stock food brands direct to land-owner feed sheds throughout Northland.
But in a show of extraordinary community spirit, her customers simply wouldn’t hear of it and brainstormed ways to help it live on and bounce back – which it has!
Even in her darkest days during recovery, Simone says customers would send messages of support.
“They gave me the strength and motivation to keep doing my rehab exercises even when they were painful, or my body simply wouldn’t respond; to get out of bed when I was finally able but didn’t want to; and the inspiration to find ways to make it all happen and get everything back on track again. I want to thank them for that.”
As for the Northland Rescue Helicopter service?
“We simply cannot be without our Northland Rescue Helicopters. It’s non-negotiable in rural Northland when we are so far away from everything and there are so few first responders available. It saves lives – there is absolutely no doubt about it,” says Simone.
“After my accident, I had an excruciating 45-minute wait for these guys an even more excruciating ambulance ride down our very corrugated, potholed gravel road to meet them!
“I hate to imagine how much longer and how much worse it would have been if the Northland Rescue Helicopter hadn’t been there for me – not once but twice.
“How much longer and how much worse would it have been to be transported by ambulance over Northland’s rough roads in an ambulance during the one-hour journey to Whangarei Hospital, let alone more than a two-hour journey to Auckland Hospital with my pelvis in eight pieces?
“Well, I had a little insight into this week after my flight, when post-operation I was loaded into an ambulance (supposedly with strong drugs on board) and I was transported from Auckland Hospital back to Whangarei Hospital.
“By the time I arrived, my pelvis was in spasm and the pain levels were off the charts! It took many, many more heavy-duty drugs, lots of Nitrous Oxide and over an hour to get my pain back down to six or seven on the pain scale.
“That could’ve all been avoided, if I could have had one more Northland Rescue Helicopter flight. This Northland owned service is absolutely critical to the people in our region and I thank them for all the care they provide for people in our community in their time of need. The Northland Rescue Helicopter service needs our support, just as we rely on them.”
