The Star: January 25, 2024

The Star Thursday January 25 2024
10
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Burns victim still waiting for surgery
• By Daniel Alvey
A MAN who was nearly killed
in a fiery explosion is making
marked progress almost two
years after the incident.
It will be two years in April
since Kevin Burney’s accident.
He suffered burns to 70 per
cent of his body when a metal
drum he was using a grinder
on in his driveway exploded in
flames on April 2 in 2022. He
was rushed to Christchurch in a
critical condition and airlifted to
Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
Burney, 62, has now regained
movement in his left arm following
surgery in August, which
had been delayed since January
last year.
“It has been really good. It has
given me more freedom to do
pretty much everything on that
side now,” he said.
Despite the progress on the left
side, the Darfield resident is still
waiting for a final date for the
same procedure on his right arm.
“It is probably not quite so bad,
so hopefully that will recover
even better,” said Burney. He is
expecting the surgery to happen
in the coming months.
Burney said he has had to train
himself to be more ambidextrous.
Due to the surgery delays, he
lost his printing job in Christchurch
in July.
Now Burney is unsure if he
will return to work or choose an
early retirement.
“I lost my job through this
process, my company was great,
can’t complain about that.
“I can’t go back to the same
work, because it was a very
physical job . . . although I’m
mentally fine, I think the
physical side would let me
down,” he said.
The first four weeks after the
accident were spent in intensive
care, where doctors said they
had not seen burns as severe
since those they treated from the
RECOVERY:
Life is
slowly
normalising
for Kevin
Burney
and wife
Amanda.
deadly White Island eruption.
They did not know whether
Burney would survive as he
battled for his life. One of his
lungs collapsed, he suffered an
infection, and his heart stopped
during surgery.
He spent eight weeks in
the burns unit, undergoing
several skin graft surgeries.
The surgeries were nine-hour
marathons involving three
surgeons, where skin was taken
from unburned areas of his
tummy and buttocks, to be
grafted onto the burned areas of
his torso, arms, hands, and the
front and back of his thighs.
Burney said his lung and heart
have recovered well.
“I was quite surprised
the other day when I saw a
photograph of myself from the
first week in hospital and I didn’t
realise how badly scared my face
was, and you wouldn’t know that
now.”
Burney, who loves the water,
has been able to get back out in it
with help.
“I’ve got a boat that I haven’t
used for a couple of years now.
But I’ve also got a couple of
kayaks and the physio took me
out one day and it was really
liberating.”
Burney said while the recovery
is progressing well there will be
limitations to what he can to.
“As part of the trauma
involved in the explosion my
muscles and joints all tightened
up . . . so that is going to be
ongoing problem keeping those
limbs moving.”
$17k in tickets
paid off in 8 years
A MAN who racked up $17,000
in parking tickets and other
vehicle-related infringements
has finally paid it off after eight
years.
Todd Fisher, formerly of the
inner-city Auckland suburb
Parnell but now living in
Christchurch, would drive to
work in Ponsonby every day and
park in a 90-minute spot – then
forget to move his car.
He said he was playing
“carpark roulette” and losing.
A $65 parking ticket would
increase to $85 if he didn’t pay it
within five days.
“I was stuck in meetings and I
was just a bit busy and I kind of
got a ticket every day and then
it just escalated
from there.”
Todd also
did not have a
warrant of fitness
or registration, so
would frequently
get $400 tickets
Todd Fisher
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