Kaine's journey, in his own words

LUCKY: Kaine Lewis remembers nothing of the day of his crash. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

As the try line nears I begin to get shivers down my spine. Just the thought of how important this try will be for the team. It will be a five-to-seven point relief as the clock ticks near the final whistle for a win. It is just the best feeling leaving the field after a win. Objective complete.

It has been something of a roller-coaster ride for me, Kaine Lewis. I have overcome many obstacles in my life. I have encountered great challenges. Sometimes I have won and sometimes I have lost.

My mother, my partner, and my family have been my biggest inspirations, as they have been there for me since day one in my recovery.

When I awoke from my coma, two months after the crash, surrounding me were my saviours, who then told me about the roller-coaster ride they had been through with me for the past three or so months.

October 23 I just woke up " where the hell am I?

OMG am I wearing a NAPPY!!

I awoke in rehab and I could not talk nor could I walk or go to the toilet by myself. For the first time in my life I wasn't able to complete the task at hand, whatever it may be. I was incapable in all areas.

Everybody told me that I had been a very lucky young man.

The first thing I learned to do was write, as I could not talk or walk. I was fed through a tube through a hole on the left side of my stomach. After some time, I was lucky enough to be allowed a solid meal and then I was asked, because I could understand, what I wanted to eat.

I wrote down a Big Mac, a cheeseburger with mayo and some chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. Finally, my food arrived. However, I had no taste buds so I could not taste what I was being fed. This was a big change from being fed by a tube. I was restricted to only the cheeseburger as everything inside of me had shrunk to nothing.

It took almost three weeks before I could even eat properly.

Talking was my next task and since that day I have never stopped talking.

I don't remember much about the beginning of my therapy, this was because of the damage to my head from the crash.

I remember nothing about the day of my crash, August 20. All I know is that I fell asleep at my Nan's in Murupara and woke up in Auckland. My recovery started off in Auckland and is still going strong here in Rotorua.

Endless corridors covered with a walking frame. Tall ones to build strength in my arms. Learning how to balance after months of lying in bed. Gradually, I gained more and more strength so that by January I could walk again.

Learning how to go to the toilet, understanding when I needed to go was another big obstacle in my rehab. So once I accomplished all these horrible things, the road to discharge had arrived. But first all my paperwork regarding where I was going to live, what was I going to do, had to be sorted out.

February " Home to Kawaha Point Road, Rotorua, living with my partner and my mum's friend until mum gets her work sorted out.

I decided to go back to school to get my Level 3 Certificate to set me up for a mechanic apprenticeship.

I hate not being able to stay at school for the whole day. Soon I hope.

I just love being back.

My journey is not yet over. I have had to learn how to sustain information, how to concentrate for a period, and how to be sociable and control myself in a group.

I am not my old self yet, maybe I never will be, but I am lucky. I have been given another chance at life.