Editorial: Amanda inspires with her courage

FINDING JOY: Tauranga woman Amanda Lowry, who broke her neck while surfing this year, has found joy in wheelchair rugby, less than a year after her accident.PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

This week, we ran a story about Amanda Lowry and her remarkable outlook on life following a surfing accident that broke her neck.

The accident left Miss Lowry without use of her legs, and limited use of her arms and hands.

But she has pushed through doctors' initial recovery expectations to achieve a moderately independent life with some use of her upper body.

Her determined outlook saw her return home to Tauranga in record time and, 10 months on from the accident, she is now re-establishing her tutoring role at the University of Waikato.

Miss Lowry will return to tutoring sociology in March, marking just how far she has come.

The former kiteboarder has also found new ways to indulge her passion for sport.

She has joined the Bay of Plenty Steamrollers wheelchair rugby team and now has a goal of reaching the highly respected national Wheel Blacks team.

She credits her motivation and positivity to the people and things she loves most.

Miss Lowry, partner Gemma Holroyd and daughter Lola, 4, welcomed baby girl Ziggy into their family seven days before the accident.

In her own words, she may be a "bit broken" but this does not stop her finding joy in different ways.

"Playing rugby gives me joy, getting to hang out with my babies by myself gives me joy.

"It's just about living life and finding different ways of enjoying it," she says.

I cannot imagine how difficult it most be to recover from such a serious injury.

The fact Miss Lowry has been able to do so and find new joys in life is truly inspirational.