'Dr Miracle' remembered for life-giving pregnancy

By LAUREN OWENS
She has survived two car crashes, learned to walk again twice and was told she would never have children but Salli and Grant Peck now have two sons - thanks to a man they call "Doctor Miracle".
The Mount Maunganui couple celebrated the birth of their second child, Todd Jonty Rupert Peck, on April 17, dedicating the achievement to the memory of their Tauranga doctor, David Higgins, who was killed in Canada.
Dr Higgins died in a hit-and-run accident last year.
"Every time I look at the boys, they're David. I wouldn't have ever had this without David," she told the Bay of Plenty Times.
At age 13 and again at 21, Mrs Peck was involved in two major accidents. She was knocked off her bike before being run over by a car and was subsequently involved in a car crash in Switzerland.
She suffered major internal injuries and after the second accident doctors had to rebuild her leg using other bones and pins.
Recovering after each accident was a long process and involved learning to walk again.
"If I was in New Zealand for the second accident, I would not have survived, because of the advance in technology.
"It took me about six to eight months to even walk again."
Even after recovery, Mrs Peck, 39, has suffered continuous medical problems and after years of tests by doctors, was told not to expect children.
She was referred to Dr Higgins in 1999, who at the time worked at Bethlehem Medical Centre and specialised in natural medicines.
He worked through Mrs Peck's list of ailments over three years, conducting many tests and combining traditional and natural medicines.
She says he never gave up on her and eventually discovered she had polycystic ovarian syndrome, which affects fertility.
He started treating the condition naturally.
The couple married in 2000 and went on a delayed honeymoon in 2003 - a 14-week trip around the world, renewing their vows on their final stop in Hawaii, where to their utter delight, their first child, Cole, was conceived.
Before they started trying for their second child in 2006, they asked Dr Higgins if he would be the godfather, which he accepted before leaving for a sabbatical overseas.
"He just had so much time for Sally. Sally was a lucky one to know him," Mr Peck said.
Dr Higgins had barely arrived in Vancouver, Canada, when on June 27 last year, Cole's birthday, he was struck down on a pedestrian crossing. He died of massive head injuries and the driver, a 21-year-old man, was arrested after a 10-minute chase. The Canadian man, a well-known criminal in the area and previous hit-and-run driver, was last month sentenced to 11 months' jail.
Mrs Peck said Dr Higgins had touched the lives of so many and would never be forgotten. When they attended the memorial service in Tauranga for Dr Higgins, Mrs Peck was unknowingly pregnant with her second son, Todd.
"I'm so lucky to be here let alone have children that we didn't think we could ever have. He gave so much, he was just an amazing man. We did this journey together, he had such a passion for life," Mrs Peck said, her eyes glistening with the fond memories of the doctor, voted Tauranga's best GP in 2004. "I didn't know him as my GP. To me, he was my Doctor Miracle."