The Star: October 19, 2017

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday October 19 2017 15
News
From hospital bed to the dressage ring
• By Georgia O’Connor-Harding
SERIOUSLY ILL Maddie Collins
has bounced back from hospital
to win at an equestrian event.
Last week, The Star reported
Maddie, who needs potentially
lifesaving kidney treatment in
the United States, was in
Christchurch Hospital with
peritonitis – an infection of the
lining around her abdomen.
But shortly after being discharged
from hospital, Maddie
was back out horse-riding her
way to victory in the North Loburn
Equestrian spring dressage
tournament at the weekend.
She won all of her four dressage
events for her level, making
her the champion of the competition.
“I don’t know how she does
it. How she can go from a highdependency
unit to winning a
horse show. Her stamina is just
incredible,” her mother Sarah
Manson Collins said.
“It has absolutely shattered her
but it’s what she wants to be doing.
It’s what keeps her well.”
Maddie’s instructor Cheryl
French, of Carnmore Equestrian,
said Maddie has got huge riding
talent.
“She did very well to last two
days competing and still stayed
bright and cheery and gets on
so well with the other kids that
come to us. She is a real inspiration
to all of us,” she said.
Mrs Manson Collins said
Maddie will continue with heavy
treatment for the next two weeks
and has had to go back into
hospital most days for blood tests
since she was discharged.
“As she is getting older, she
is more aware of how timeconsuming
and how hard it is to
care for someone on dialysis that
is medically fragile,” she said.
Mrs Manson Collins said the
infection made the need for a
transplant more urgent.
“She just needs a kidney. We’re
just trying to sit tight here and
hope it happens,” she said.
Last week marked five years
since Maddie’s father, Adam
Collins, donated one of his kidneys
to her. Five hours after the
operation, her body rejected it.
Her family have been fundraising
to get Maddie a kidney
transplant in the United States,
where the treatment offered
would make it less likely a
donated kidney would be rejected.
But the treatment would cost
more than $700,000, and is also
conditional on Maddie’s brother,
Tomas, donating one of his
kidneys to an American patient
as part of a “paired exchange”
programme.
Mrs Manson Collins said she
TENACITY:
Sick teen
Maddie
Collins on
her horse
Trig. She
competed in
a dressage
tournament
shortly
after being
discharged
from hospital
where she
was fighting
a potentially
lifethreatening
infection,
complicated
by her kidney
failure.
hoped Maddie’s story would
inspire people to become organ
donors.
Next Friday, St Thomas’ of
Canterbury College and Villa
Maria College will be joining
forces to do a second fundraising
concert for Maddie.
The outdoor Rock of Ages
concert will be at St Thomas’
from 5pm.
Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease
WEKA PASS RAILWAY
Steam Locomotive in Service
Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema
We want to see if regular treatment with
a single inhaler containing either 2 or 3
Investigational Medications will help prevent
chest infections in COPD.
To take part in the study you must
• Be using inhalers regularly
• Have seen your doctor with a chest infection
in the last 12 months
For more information
Please call the Canterbury
Respiratory Research Group
364 1157
erin.morris@cdhb.health.nz
Running
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Sun 22 nd & Mon 23 rd Oct
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