SNN_July 2021 Issue_web low res

NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 24
Sharing Hope
The story of how Andrew Hall fought back from tragedy to help others
Andrew Hall, a natural leader at the NZ Spinal Trust.
Skiing standing (just), Andrew at the NZ
Disabled Skiing Nationals in Cardrona 1987.
It’s the middle of winter and Andrew Hall is
lying in the shallows of Lake Wakatipu,
freezing, in agony and petrified by what he’s
just done.
It was August 1983, Andrew a 19-year-old student at
Massey University, was in Queenstown at the Universities
Winter Tournament where he competed as a skier.
That night, he had been named in the NZ Universities Ski
Team to compete in the upcoming northern hemisphere
winter in Bulgaria.
The day before he had landed his “dream job”, securing a
two-year contract to work with the Coronet Peak Ski Patrol
Team. Then disaster hit and his dreams were dashed.
Andrew was out celebrating with his university ski mates
and they decided to have a midnight swim in the lake in
the arctic winter conditions.
“I dived in too deep and hit the bottom with a mighty
blow. I broke my neck,” he says, in a matter of fact manner.
—Andrew Hall
I was so cold and there was a
lot of concern about that. That I
might not make it.
Unable to move, Andrew lay in the water in a state of
shock. The biggest immediate risk to his health
was hypothermia.
“It was about a minute just lying there before my mates
realised what had happened and pulled me out. I was so
cold and there was a lot of concern about that. That I
might not make it.”
Andrew has replayed that night in his mind many times
over the past 38 years.
“We had all been partying and a lot of alcohol had been