KEY POINTS:
Pikimeene Muru has overcome many challenges in her life, including meningitis as a toddler, which left her profoundly deaf.
Now her family hope the teenager's strong will and zest for life will help her overcome the life-threatening injuries she received when she was hit by vehicle and left
for dead in the early hours of New Year's Day.
The 16-year-old was walking along Marine Parade at Mt Maunganui with a friend when she stepped out to kick a block of ice lying on the road after New Year celebrations. Her deafness meant she never heard the van that rounded a corner and hit her.
She was left with a broken jaw, spinal injuries and a swollen brain.
The driver of the van took off, leaving Pikimeene lying in the middle of the road.
The Ngaruawahia teenager was taken to Tauranga Hospital before being transferred to Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit, where she remains in a coma, surrounded by friends and family.
The accident was the last way Pikimeene's family, including her mother Marae Tukere, had dreamed of starting the New Year.
"When you get an early-morning phone call on New Year's you are hoping it is somebody ringing up saying happy New Year, but unfortunately it wasn't," she said. "We were at home in Ngaruawahia and she was an hour-and-a-half away in Tauranga. Luckily, she had whanau there that were looking after her."
Ms Tukere said she did not know what to think about the driver whose vehicle hit her daughter.
She could only hope young people reading about Pikimeene's injuries would think twice about drinking and driving.
"We were thinking it would be a good lesson ... to see how she is in hospital. She's had to have her head shaved and she has tubes in her."
Ms Tukere said Pikimeene was a battler who had coped with a lot.
As well as the meningococcal illness that left her deaf when she was 18 months old, her father had been seriously injured in a car accident.
While the deafness had made schooling difficult, Ms Tukere said her daughter had not let it affect her quality of life.
Pikimeene loves sports and has made headlines by playing netball in her Eastern Waikato representative team, even though she cannot hear the whistle or call her teammates for the ball. She now plays for the top team at her local club, Turangawaewae.
She also rows for Turangawaewae and was due to take part in the national Wakaama champs at Lake Karapiro. She won her singles skull event in a recent regional competition.
"She'll be disappointed she won't be able to compete this year," Ms Tukere said.
Her daughter had been training hard for the champs and doctors said her high level of fitness helped her to survive her injuries.
It is hoped she will make a full recovery but doctors will not know if she has brain damage until she comes out of her coma.
Until then, family members have vowed to keep a vigil at Pikimeene's bedside.
* A 17-year-old Auckland youth has been charged with drink-driving in relation to the incident. He is due to appear in the Tauranga District Court this month. Police say other charges are likely.