'Miracle survivor' Rongo beats bus

Tahi (left) hasn't left Rongo's side since the accident 17 days ago. Photo / Richard Robinson

Usually, Rongo comes to the rescue after Tahi makes mischief.

The 8-year-old Nepia twins from Ranui were born two minutes apart and their grandmother Josie - who raised them as "mum" - says Rongo has always had his brother's back.

But on September 15, it was Rongo who needed saving, when he ran out in front of a bus after school.

Family have not pushed the siblings on why it happened, but locals said he darted onto Swanson Rd facing the wrong way. By the time he turned around, it was too late.

Tahi and their 11-year-old sister Erena watched from the footpath as the Go West bus hit Rongo with such force the windscreen smashed, before the youngster went under the wheels and was dragged about 15m.

Police said it was a miracle he survived.

Middlemore Hospital surgeon Jonathan Wheeler said the accident would have been "catastrophic" for an adult, but children were more flexible.

He said Rongo was "an amazing kid" and "quite resilient".

"No matter what we've put him through, he seems to have bounced back every time," Mr Wheeler said.

Pulling up his blue hospital pyjama bottoms to show the Weekend Herald, Rongo revealed surgical cuts up the back of both calves.

"I have got a nerve from my leg in my arm, and a skin graft," he explained.

Mr Wheeler said surgeons took spare nerves from the boy's legs to bridge a 16cm gap in his arm, "which in a young boy's arm is quite a long way".

"We put the nerve grafts in and held them in with special glue, and hope that over time, the nerves will regrow and he'll regain function."

This makes daily exercises a necessary chore.

"He'll need 12 months till there is full movement," said Mrs Nepia, as Rongo slowly wiggled his fingers to demonstrate.

After four operations, Rongo is walking, talking and laughing like any other young boy - and in just two more sleeps he can go home.

Hospital food was "a little bit nice", the youngster said, but he couldn't wait for "homemade chocolate bikkies".

Mr Wheeler said Rongo would probably need more surgery down the track, as well as extensive physiotherapy and scar therapy.

Tahi hasn't left Rongo's side since the accident, sleeping in the windowseat of Room 10 of Middlemore's Kidz First wing.

"I knew he was going to be okay because my birth mother told me it was going to be okay," he said.

The twins claim they aren't best mates, but have happily played PlayStation, Wii and pool together while in hospital.

"Nah, I've got my own friends," said Rongo. "We're in different classes."

But when push comes to shove, they're a team.

"If somebody picks on either one of them, the other one's there," said Mrs Nepia.

Tahi relished the limelight, happily posing and smiling for the camera, while Rongo sat back.

"Rongo's quietly bossy, though," Mrs Nepia said.

Dozens of cards cover the walls and window from friends, family and Swanson Rd workers who saw the crash.

Sister Erena wrote: "Sorry about the accident. Hope to see you back at home and school. Damn, we love you heaps (the hospital sucks, eh). Get better soon because Teroro says you owe him half a lollipop."

Rongo pointed to a sporty card from Holden - his "best friend since kindergarten".

"There's over a hundred cards," said Tahi, proudly.

Mrs Nepia said Rongo's brave face was just a front - a dressing change the other night had been agony.

"He was just saying, 'I want to go home, I want to go home'," she said.

And on Monday, he can.