ACC put me on ice says skier

Deborah Stevens had to abandon a newly established business to recover from a shattered collarbone. Picture / Martin Sykes

One moment of "reckless carelessness" on Mt Ruapehu's Turoa ski slopes took Deborah Stevens out of work for seven months and forced her to re-mortgage her home to pay for living expenses.

She is still hurting from the accident, both emotionally and financially, but says what aggravates her most is the fact she has lost her ability to ski.

A "bastard" took her out on the slopes just over a year ago and her life has been a nightmare since.

"I remember you very clearly," was her message to the skier when she spoke to the Herald yesterday.

He was an advanced skier from Auckland, aged about 40, who was going fast down the mountain when he hit her from behind, shattering her collarbone.

He hung around for 20 minutes and promised to meet her at the bottom of the hill in the emergency room, but never showed up.

"I don't feel bitter toward him, just pissed off. I've fought too many other battles to feel bitter.

"He doesn't realise, he just wouldn't have a clue how this one incident has impacted on my life."

Over the past year the collarbone has needed two operations to repair, and new "jewellery" attached to her body now sets off airport metal detectors.

"I have approximately six screws and a nine-hole plate in my collar bone. I know more about dealing with ACC and the hospital than I ever wanted to know."

As a self-employed IT consultant who had just set herself up in business, she had only qualified for $14,000 in work-related compensation.

But her estimate was she had missed out on about $60,000 in lost income.

"They didn't pay for things like prescriptions and the ultra sound.

"They were terrible. They treated me like a criminal. They work on the assumption that you're there to rip them off."

Mrs Stevens, a solo parent, said ACC call takers and her case manager made her claim difficult.

She visited someone at ACC with her collarbone in tatters, but the very next day the same ACC worker cancelled home care because an assessment had not been done.

This was where bureaucracy prevailed over common sense, she said.

An ACC spokeswoman said privacy issues prevented her from commenting on individual cases.

However, recent research showed 80 per cent of claimants were satisfied with the level of service they received.

In the case of home care it was important for the organisation to "assess the needs of a person to ensure adequate support is provided".

"An assessment must therefore be carried out prior to the commencement of home help."

This not only ensured an appropriate level of support, but that Government funds were being "prudently spent".

It was disappointing that Mrs Stevens had undergone a bad experience, and the spokeswoman urged her to contact the local branch manager to discuss the case further.

Mrs Stevens said her mother helped look after her for four months. "I cannot thank my friends and mother enough for all the help they gave me."

Savings were used to pay for living expenses, and when that source of money dried up she was forced to re-mortgage her home.

For seven months she took drugs at four-hourly intervals for the "endless pain".


Paying the price

* In the year to March 2006, there were 973 new snow-sport injuries for which compensation was payable, costing the taxpayer an average of $5780 each, or a total of $5.62 million.

* Skiing accounted for 560 of the 973 accidents, with snowboarding making up the remainder of skifield injuries (413, or 42 per cent).

* It is estimated that snowboarders made up 38 per cent of the 1.154 million visits to New Zealand skifields last year.

* Of 2006's successful claimants, 62 per cent were male, and more than half (55 per cent) of all injuries came from people aged between 15 and 29.

* Compensation is paid to those with "moderate to severe" injuries, meaning it must be sufficiently bad for at least one week to be taken off work.

(Sourced from ACC data)