Lech-Walensa Lo Tam with his sister Tiare Takairangi, 6, and 2-year-old brother Terino Takairangi. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Lech-Walensa Lo Tam with his sister Tiare Takairangi, 6, and 2-year-old brother Terino Takairangi. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Standing at the top of a slide at a swimming pool, teenager Lech-Walensa Lo Tam suddenly felt something strange come over him.
"I just had a bad feeling about it - just something was wrong.''
It would be the last emotion the 15-year-old would feel seconds before crashing head-first intothe shallow pool, breaking his neck and leaving him paralysed from the shoulders down.
The Year 11 Avondale College student, of Glen Eden, had set big goals for himself this year.
He wanted to gain his NCEA Level 1 and improve himself both physically and mentally. He was also quietly hoping to make the school's First XV rugby team.
Lech and his mum, Justine Lo Tam, picked up one of his friends on their way in to Herne Bay.
"We got there first and we were waiting for my other mates to arrive. They turned up and jumped straight into the pool.
"They were telling me to jump in, but it was a cold morning and I wanted to play basketball just to warm up.''
Lech-Walensa Lo Tam dreams of getting back to normal after a freak accident left him paralysed. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Eventually, Lech gave in and headed up to one of the connecting slides. But for some reason, he had a bad feeling.
As he paused, his friends called out to him to hurry up.
"I just went down the slide, on my tummy, head-first. I went in [the water] and all I felt was . . . I just couldn't move.
"I didn't realise how shallow the water was. I went to tuck in . . . and I just blanked out. I just remember looking around in the water and yelling and trying to move my arms - but nothing.
"My friends said they saw my legs sort of flip over my head. Then I just panicked. I just kept yelling - they said later they could see the bubbles.''
Lech-Walensa Lo Tam, 15, at Middlemore Hospital after breaking his neck in a pool accident. Photo / Supplied
One of his mates finally grabbed him and pulled him up. But, still thinking Lech was joking, immediately dropped him back into the water.
"I couldn't breathe and I just looked up at the sky and thought: 'I'm gonna die'. I was closing my eyes after taking that last breath and out of nowhere he just grabbed me again."
The realisation that the accident was serious only started to sink in when someone started calling an ambulance and then his mum.
"I was just praying to God that this wasn't going to alter my life."
Justine Lo Tam, who works at Auckland City Hospital, was at her desk when she answered the call from a lifeguard, who put her son on the phone.
Brothers: Lech and three friends at Middlemore Hospital. Photo / Supplied
Asked what she remembered of that call, she pauses.
"Oh gosh,'' she says, touching her chest for a second.
"He just said: 'Mum, I'm scared. I can't feel anything'."
Lech was taken to Middlemore Hospital, where there is a spinal rehabilitation unit, where he underwent a CT scan.
He spent eight hours in the operation theatre before doctors came back with a diagnosis.
He had injured his C3, 4, 5 vertebrae - the worst kind of spinal cord injury. It was a grim diagnosis - the kid who loved to play sport would not walk again.
Lech Lo Tam, 15, has always kept an active lifestyle. Photo / Supplied
It has been almost seven months since the February 1 accident and despite everything, Lech stays positive.
He now has some movement in both arms, but still cannot feel anything from his shoulders down.
Mum Justine says they are looking into alternative treatment for spinal injuries offered overseas. For now, they are taking things slowly.
Lech says he is grateful to be alive and now tells his mates to do everything in life 100 per cent.
"The night before, I had been out running and just had this mentality to just keep pushing myself for those who can't walk and for those who are no longer alive.
"I was thinking: 'Just empty the tank. Do it for those people who can't'. Not knowing that the next day . . . that was me.''
