Givealittle page started after Whanganui hockey coach suffers serious head injury

Dave Dench, seen here with junior player MacKenzie Carter, is set to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Porirua.

Dave Dench has “a long road ahead of him” but the community is rallying around to help.

The junior coach for the Whanganui Rink Hockey Club is in a coma after suffering a serious head injury after falling during a practice game last week.

He was taken to Whanganui Hospital via ambulance before being flown to Wellington Hospital in an induced coma the next day.

Son Blair Dench said he rushed to Whanganui from Palmerston North as soon as he heard the news and then followed his dad to the capital.

“We’ve been sitting, waiting patiently ever since,” Blair Dench said.

“It was a hell of a knock and there was a bit of bleeding on the brain. He isn’t great, but all things considered, he’s doing well.”

His dad was flown back to Whanganui Hospital on Sunday night, where he would remain until he was admitted to a rehabilitation facility in Porirua, Dench said.

“There is some good news coming through. That makes us a bit more relaxed.

“He’s got a long road ahead of him but the amount of support that has come through from the hockey community has been unreal. When he is able to get to his phone again and read all the texts and comments, that will perk him right up.”

Whanganui Rink Hockey Club president Dean Fitness, who was at the training session at the Hatrick Street rink, said players were in shock when the incident occurred.

“It was just a freak accident,” Fitness said.

“We administered first aid until the ambulance came, which, luckily, was only around 15 minutes.

“The fact they were there so quickly was pretty awesome. You can’t fault them.”

Blair Dench said understandably, some of the kids who saw the accident were “struggling with it a bit”.

“I’m going to go to training this week and let everyone know the family is doing alright.

“If anyone has questions, I’ll give them truthful answers. Hopefully, that will help them comprehend it a bit more and start their ‘everything is all right’ process.”

Blair Dench said his dad, now 53, had been involved in the sport since the age of 16, with the vast majority of his career spent in Whanganui.

He is also the New Zealand under-14s coach.

“The time he puts in with those kids is amazing,” Blair Dench said.

“He’s down there twice a week and he often travels to different parts of the country on the weekends to help other clubs train.

“As far as the younger players in the sport go, he is the one guy in New Zealand that has the biggest push for it.”

Fitness said David Dench had been involved with the Whanganui club for at least 20 years, coaching and mentoring younger players the whole way through.

“A lot of players coming up through the ranks now are a credit to him actually doing that.

“He is the sole reason our club has as many young players as it does at the moment. He’s there every time and he’s never late.

“Dave will even ring up other clubs to see how many juniors they’ve got playing and offer to come and do a training session.”

A fundraising page for Dave Dench and his family to can be found at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/daves-rolling-road-to-recovery.