Gisborne nurse’s book Matrix and Emergency strikes chord with readers

Sarah Kapene and her beloved horse Matrix at the Mahia Hunt trials at Opoho Station in 2020. Right: Pictured with her self-published book Matrix and Emergency, which is set to have a second print run.

A book written by Gisborne Emergency Department nurse and keen horsewoman Sarah Kapene about nursing and her horse Matrix has become an unexpected success with locals.

A second print run is planned because of its popularity.

The self-published book sold 350 copies in eight weeks, receiving praise for its authenticity.

It was written in 18 months while she was recovering from three orthopaedic operations - two knee replacements and fractured tibia/fibula bones from horse riding accidents.

“I used the time off work to write it,” she says.

The book, nearly 45,000 words long, was written using Google Docs on Kapene’s cell phone, as she doesn’t own a computer.

“I initially printed 100 copies in case friends and family might like a copy, and they sold within a week and continue to sell,” she said.

Matrix and Emergency is about real-life journeys. It explores grief, trauma, suicide and sexual abuse, but also laughter and success.

It tells of nursing through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kapene said she had had great feedback, with people saying it made them “laugh and cry”.

“I didn’t expect the reaction I have received.”

It was unedited in its first run because Kapene wanted it to feel authentic and unpolished.

She now wished she’d had it proofread, but there was time to do that before more copies were printed.

“People are messaging me to say how much they loved it and it seems to be connecting with people from all walks of life.”

Kapene has been nursing for more than 35 years, including in London.

While scenarios in the book are based on Gisborne Hospital’s ED, they did not necessarily occur there, she writes in a disclosure at the beginning of the book.

All have been significantly changed so that patients’ and relatives’ privacy are protected and they are not recognised.

But the stories about her beloved horse Matrix are real and remain firmly in her memories.

“This is a story about a very ordinary life and an extraordinary horse called Matrix. It comes from the heart.”

“I guess like most farm kids, riding horses was a necessity, but for me it was an absolute obsession,” Kapene said.

“My brothers weren’t too keen on horses, having watched me being attacked and kicked in the head by a feral pony.”

The kicks fractured her skull and left her unconscious for a few hours, requiring intensive care treatment in Hawke’s Bay Hospital.

“The head injury caused a nice amount of amnesia, so I had no memory of the incident.”

Kapene said she rode predominantly with Mahia Hunt as a child.

“I deemed competing at shows well out of my league. That was until Matrix, of course, and the book tells the story.

“There are generally two to three rings at a show. Ring 1 is for the real professionals. I’m a Ring 2 girl ... the trier, the encourager, the ‘let’s have fun’ and the proud moments when we fluke a ribbon.”

Last year at the Ōpōtiki show, she got eliminated twice and broke her ankle in the practice arena.

The previous year, she won The Derby, although insists she would never consider herself to be “accomplished”.

“I’m the one who still shows up despite the setbacks - the two knee replacements and four tibia/fibula fractures.

“The equestrian community in Gisborne is so supportive and encouraging and we have a lot of fun. I still fall off a lot and should probably do dressage and trekking, but jumping is so much fun.

“I do get scared. I do self-doubt. But I do it anyway because, God forbid - a life without horses would be unthinkable.”

The book is available at Muirs Bookstore on Gladstone Rd and Easts in Makaraka.

Sarah Kapene with her book Matrix and Emergency about an "ordinary life and an extraordinary horse". She is pictured outside the PBC cafe in Gisborne.