Martin van de Wetering is busy polishing his Harley Davidson, but buffing the bike, let alone riding it, is something doctors never thought he’d be able to do after he suffered a severe brain aneurysm back in 2020.
In fact, neurosurgeons didn’t give him “a hope in hell” of ever walking again.
Five years on, Martin is taking everything in his stride, but he hasn’t forgotten the St John ambulance crew who helped save his life.
Martin, from Paeroa, was walking home one night when he collapsed on his front deck. His wife, Sally, and daughter, Anja, found him and called 111.
“There happened to be a Waihī crew just coming into Paeroa. So, they just had to go around the corner, and they were at my place.”
The crew attended to Martin before he was flown to Waikato Hospital, where he spent between 9-10 weeks in the ICU and neurosurgery ward.
“And in the end,” he says, “I was very lucky to recover.”
Martin had suffered a severe brain aneurysm which came “straight out of the blue”.
“In the end, I was conscious,” he says, “but I just wasn’t there. The family would go and visit me, and I’d just be away with the fairies. [Doctors] ended up putting a magnetic shunt in my head to relieve the pressure off the brain, and the moment they did that, I say I woke up. That’s when I started to recognise everybody and got my memory back and everything. So, I’m extremely fortunate.”
Martin says a neurosurgeon told him that none of them expected him to ever walk again, let alone be able to function, and because of his prompt care by the Waihī St John ambulance crew who attended to him that day, he wanted to pay it forward.
He read The Profile’s February 25 story about Waihī’s Johnston Street ambulance station needing more funds to complete its rebuild, and thought he’d do his bit to help out, utilising a sport he’s been heavily involved in for decades – clay target shooting.
He and his daughter Anja have accumulated a number of world champ titles all around the world, and Martin has been president of the Thames Clay Target Club for nearly 20 years.
“I decided to put a shoot on to raise some funds, and I just went round and contacted people I know in the sport and visited our club and tried to rally up some support,” he says.
“It was a little bit last minute, and so we didn’t quite get the numbers there that I hoped for, but I have to say, I was just absolutely astounded with the generosity of the people in our sport.”
On March 30, more than $3000 was raised from the shoot, while at Whitianga the week before, another $600 was collected by the passing around of a hat.
“So we were able to make a $3600 donation to the station fund over at Waihī. It was just a way of giving back to St John’s for what they did for me.”
Not only was Martin’s prompt assistance a literal lifeline, but post his release from hospital, he says St John continued to provide faultless care.
“In the last four-and-a-half years, I’ve struggled with severe blood clots, heart problems, you name it, and I’ve had to call 111 several times, and in some cases be taken to A&E.
“I know they’re not always immediately available, but the crew on the night I collapsed were coming into Paeroa to relieve, because all the local crews were out on calls. They back each other up, and you can’t fault them,” he says.
Martin heads to the Thames Clay Target Club off Ngāti Maru Highway every week, and the week he chats with The Profile, he is preparing to host more than 100 students from Auckland to Taupo for a secondary school shoot.
He and Anja are also vying to qualify for New Zealand teams for the 2026 worlds, which will be held in Christchurch.
He’s feeling great, he says, hence why he’s polishing his bike.
“I count myself as one of the very few fortunate ones,” he says, “after all, the neurosurgeon I saw in Waikato Hospital, a few months after my release, he turned to me and said: ‘Well, you’re a walking miracle’. He said: ‘None of us in neurosurgery gave you a hope in hell of ever walking again, let alone being able to function as a human being’.
“I can only count myself as extremely lucky,” Martin says, “and I cherish every moment.”
DETAILS: To donate to the Waihī station’s rebuild, visit fundraise.stjohn.org.nz/t/waihi-111-challenge
BY KELLEY TANTAU
