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NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 26<br />
The Remarkable Life<br />
of Dr Richard Smaill<br />
Dr Richard Smaill says “life is but a journey and you only<br />
have one shot at it”.<br />
Dr. Richard Smaill has lived an extraordinary<br />
life against the odds.<br />
The 61-year-old became a tetraplegic when he was 15 after<br />
he broke his neck in a rugby tackle. That was 46 years ago<br />
- back in 1974 New Zealand was a very different place for<br />
Kiwis, living with a disability. Medical professionals were<br />
only just gaining the knowledge on how to keep high level<br />
tetraplegics alive. Still, Richard did not complain. He<br />
never looked at what he couldn’t achieve, he always<br />
focused on what was possible and set about living his life.<br />
He went back to school to gain University Entrance, went<br />
on to study Psychology at University of Otago becoming a<br />
registered Psychologist in 1984. He completed his PhD at<br />
the University of Canterbury.<br />
Richard worked for many years in the health services in a<br />
variety of positions in <strong>res</strong>earch, planning and senior<br />
management. During this time, he completed a Diploma<br />
in Health Service Management and was also awarded a<br />
Winston Churchill Memorial Fel<strong>low</strong>ship to study health<br />
information systems in Great Britain. He left the health<br />
services in 1993 to become self-employed establishing a<br />
business in career counselling as well as a variety of<br />
consultancy work. Further health issues set him back but<br />
he was fortunate to be granted a Health Research Council<br />
Disability Research Placement Award. His doctoral thesis<br />
‘Ageing with SCI in New Zealand’ was completed in 2014<br />
and was recognised by the Division of Health Sciences as<br />
being of exceptional quality. He is proud to be happily<br />
married with two adult children. We caught up with<br />
Richard to talk about his experiences, his study and his<br />
advice for those at the start of their journey with a spinal<br />
cord impairment (SCI).<br />
Tell me what it was like when you were 15 and your<br />
memories of breaking your neck?<br />
I was playing on the wing for the First XV in John<br />
McGlashen College in Dunedin. I grew very quickly as a<br />
young fella. I was tall and lanky. Fortunately, or
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