A young Northlander not expected to walk or talk again after a horrendous brain injury playing rugby six years ago has landed his dream job as an IT technician.
Matangi Te Wake, from Panguru in North Hokianga, was injured during a Northland v New South Wales under-15 rugby game in 2006.
After six weeks at Starship Hospital with a serious brain bleed, he spent eight months at a home for disabled children in Auckland learning to walk again.
He returned to Panguru Area School, worked for a Kaitaia computer firm and landed a one-year cadetship with the Far North District Council spending six weeks in each department.
However, his real goal was a full-time job in IT - and this week he passed another milestone on his long road to recovery when he achieved just that.
The 21-year-old, now living with his grandmother in Kaikohe, works alongside Gen-i contractors upgrading PCs, solving printer glitches, recovering accidentally deleted emails and helping council staff with every other imaginable computer problem.
"My job is to help staff do their job of helping external customers, who are the ratepayers and people of the Far North," Matangi said.
He is mostly based at Kaikohe but the job also takes him to council service centres in Kaitaia, Kerikeri and Kaeo.
"The jobs just pump in hard some days and it gets really hectic, but it's a good environment. I love this job. It's the people that make my job enjoyable. I'm always cheerful when I come to work."
IT and business systems manager Roger Ackers said he was nervous about taking Matangi on at first.
"We run a pretty tight team and the pressure can be high. The guys are run off their feet some days and I was concerned about whether he could handle it - it's not about his disability, it's about a young guy coming in to a high-pressure situation."
However, Mr Ackers said Matangi had became a valued member of the team.
Landing the job was an achievement not just for someone who had suffered a serious injury, but for anyone from an isolated place like Panguru with few opportunities for young people.
"So it's been quite cool to offer him a job, and it's not like it's a social service. We judge him purely on his ability, and he can do the job," Mr Ackers said.
Matangi is keen to study online while he works and plans to use his time at the council to learn everything he can about IT in big organisations.
"It was my goal to go into IT but I never thought I could actually do it. The barriers of my injuries stopped me going out and applying for jobs. Now I know I'm set, I can do it."