AttitudeLive
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In 2007, Stefan Hadfield sustained a traumatic brain injury.
No one thought he would survive.
(narrator) Stefan Hadfield is one of life's characters.
Until 2007, he was an extreme sportsman, and a risk-taker.
He was smart with a promising career.
But that changed the day he raced off-piste on slopes
in Whistler, Canada.
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(helicopter noise)
It has been a long journey
for Stefan and his family.
(John Hadfield) They were very, very straight. The medical staff
and the social workers were all saying,
"This is about as serious an injury as you can get."
I had a very clear idea that if I was going to be any help to Stefan.
I had to be in some kind of state to be able to be supportive.
(narrator) Stefan's accident happened outside New Zealand,
but ACC's been there to support his recovery and rehabilitation.
When Stefan came out of his coma, he could neither walk nor talk.
The family was entitled to support from ACC, but John Hadfield says
he was overwhelmed by the process.
Because you're in the middle of dealing with a trauma, and so, even these things
to do with ACC become secondary. Even though you know it's important.
And once Stefan was covered by ACC, there were a lot of things
that just came into play.
(narrator) Stefan had vision loss, and major memory loss.
Before the accident, he spoke several languages.
Now, he didn't even know what a knife and fork was.
Across seven years, he slowly regained function.
I guess if I knew what I struggle with now I could tell you.
But if I don't know, then it's hard to say.
But a sort of it, it's -- a lot is in the social side.
I can see what I'm seeing, I can hear what I'm hearing,
and I'm not sure how I should react,
if I should frown or should still smile.
(narrator) ACC support is ongoing.
Stefan's occupational therapy is designed to reprogram his brain.
(instructor) Well done.
I'm not sure what would happen had we not been covered by ACC
because there's just a whole lot of stuff that they took care of.
It's like a process that's happening in terms of rehabilitation
that just swings into play, and it provides kind of a structure
and a way forward.
(narrator) Support have been crucial for Stefan's recovery,
and essential for John's peace of mind.
One of the things that happens when ACC's become involved
and other people, they get other people helping as well,
is that you feel like you're part of a team.
It's less pressure of being on your own, trying to deal with things
that at the end of the day, you don't know what you're dealing with.
We're parents, we're not neuropsychologists or whatever.
(narrator) Stefan's progress has astounded his medical team,
and his ACC case managers,
and yet Stefan's future is still uncertain.
Stefan would probably say, "I know things are good,"
but I mean the fact that he's living here at home and not doing anything like
what he was before and working etc., is one indication
that some of these aspects
of planning and motivation,
initiating some of the social skills,
empathy, the way he connects, etc.
These things, although they're subtle,
are fundamentally important to the way he lives his life,
and that's our challenge here really.
If you-- do you want to chop those bits away here?
(narrator) Rather than try to solve all of Stefan's problems,
John accesses the support ACC can offer.
Because it's not a sprint; this is long distance, you know.
You just have to make it sustainable.
So bearing in mind that this is an important aspect,
just to be able to be there, and keep being there.
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Having support is like me being a bird, learning to fly from a nest.
It's good to have the support. It means I can try something
and fail, and still have a home.
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