Boxer gives brain-injury 'brother' hope

By THERESA GARNER

A top New Zealand boxer fighting to recover from brain injury has a powerful symbol of hope in a man who has defied medical wisdom to win the same battle.

For five months, super-heavyweight champion Peter Williams has lain in a rehabilitation centre after collapsing when winning his title fight in Timaru in October.

Eleven years earlier, British Commonwealth middleweight champion Michael Watson was on the verge of death himself after collapsing in a coma during a world-title fight.

Against his doctors' expectations, Watson learned to sit up and speak all over again, and eventually made it out of his wheelchair.

And last month, he stunned the world by completing the London Marathon, crossing the line in six days - having walked the whole way.

When Williams' partner, Charmeyne Te Nana, 34, became aware of the parallels between the two cases, she contacted Watson's brain injury charity.

"I was hoping that Michael would be able to provide some sort of inspiration because none of us really know what Peter is going through but, I thought, 'this man does'."

Down a phone line from Britain to the Ranui brain injury rehabilitation centre, Watson passed on an inspirational message, and said he would cross the world to visit a man he called his "brother".

"I know where you are and what you are feeling," he said. "I have been there. You are coming back. You will come out of yourself again. Feel positive and surround yourself with people who love you."

The words left Williams, who is as yet unable to speak, in tears of joy, and Watson claiming it was a "divine connection".

"Peter, you are my brother," he said. "I have to come and see you."

Ms Te Nana, said the contact helped Williams, 28, out of a depressive state.

"It contributed to his determination to get better and [know] that if someone else could do it, he could."

Williams, like Watson, was not expected to live, , and Ms Te Nana was warned if he survived, he would be left in a "vegetative state".

She is overjoyed at the progress he has made, including gaining good head control and movement on both sides of his body.

His therapy was "holistic" at the family's insistence, she said.

"Peter's a very spiritual person, and unless you are feeling strong emotionally and spiritually it's very hard to get your physical self to respond."

Ms Te Nana has no doubts Williams will recover. "I know the type of determination and focus that he has. I think that once Michael comes here it will really drive him."

"This has been life-changing for him. He understands what's important now; it's about your family, and your true friends, and your health, and just having one another."

Before the accident, the couple had been working towards setting up a programme in South Auckland to give at-risk youth positive role models and help them set goals. They intend to pursue their dream.

The accident was one of a traumatic sequence of events, and "without our families' support we would never have been able to cope", Ms Te Nana said.

The couple's 14-month-old twin girls were premature, and one, Safena, had four major operations on her bowel and heart before she was two months old.

Less than a month before the comafight, the couple lost their baby son at birth.