Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua teen Oceana Cameron recovering one month after crash

Zizi Sparks
By Zizi Sparks
Multimedia journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
16 May, 2019 02:28 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Oceana Cameron, 16, was told she wouldn't walk again after a crash a month ago. Photo / Supplied

Oceana Cameron, 16, was told she wouldn't walk again after a crash a month ago. Photo / Supplied

Oceana Cameron, 16, was told she would never walk again. She was hit by a car on Rotorua's Te Ngae Rd a month ago tomorrow in an incident police are still investigating.Since then Oceana has been recovering in hospital and a rehabilitation centre in Auckland. Zizi Sparks spoke to her sister about how Oceana's long recovery is tracking.

Leah Newson wants the driver of the car that hit her sister to know the family doesn't have any hard feelings.

"At the end of the day she's still alive and that's all that matters to us."

Newson spoke exclusively to Rotorua Daily Post about her sister's recovery, as it approaches the one-month mark since the April 16 crash which resulted in the news Oceana Cameron, 16 wouldn't walk again.

Oceana, a Rotorua Lakes High student, was in Middlemore Hospital for three weeks and was moved to a rehabilitation centre in Auckland last week.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"She's progressing really well. Her mindset is in the right spot," Newson said.

Police investigate the crash scene on Te Ngae Rd where a pedestrian was hit by a car. Photo / File
Police investigate the crash scene on Te Ngae Rd where a pedestrian was hit by a car. Photo / File

"She's doing so well and going from strength to strength. The progress she's been making she's doing it a lot faster than they expected."

At the rehabilitation centre, Oceana has been learning to adapt to life in a wheelchair, something completely foreign. She's been seeing how it feels, how to move around in it, and get in and out of it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It gives her a sense of, yes I can do that myself, I don't need help. That sense of independence."

Soon she'll start working on her upper body strength but for now, her broken collarbone is still healing and she can't weight bear.

Discover more

Letters: Who is really being judgemental?

13 May 04:30 PM

Rotorua's touch masters claim gold

13 May 06:00 PM

Rotorua duo start Xterra Pan Am in style

15 May 07:00 PM

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Celebrate the successes, despite the adversities

15 May 04:00 PM

READ MORE:
• Rotorua student hit by car on Te Ngae Rd won't walk again
• Pedestrian hit by car on Te Ngae Rd in stable condition
• Teenage pedestrian critical after being hit by car on State Highway 30 in Rotorua
• Opinion: The road toll keeps rising

She suffered a brain injury so is dealing with brain fatigue too but Newson said she was handling things well.

Newson said the family had been overwhelmed by the community's show of support.

"She's had quite a few visitors. Because she's 16 and her friends are 16, they are getting their parents to drive them to Auckland to visit," Newson said.

"The show of support has been really good ... she uses social media to keep in contact."

Police investigate the crash scene on Te Ngae Rd where a pedestrian was hit by a car. Photo / File
Police investigate the crash scene on Te Ngae Rd where a pedestrian was hit by a car. Photo / File

Just over $4000 has been donated to the family's Givealittle page, set up to help ease the financial pressure of accommodation, travel and daily living costs for family members by her side supporting her and her four dependent siblings.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Newson said Oceana read all the messages left on the Givealittle page, which is still open.

As well as half-sister Newson, Oceana has an older brother who doesn't live at home. But there are four other siblings aged between 5 and 13 who do.

"We are so, so grateful as a family to our community and those around us and people that have offered to help, be it food for dad at home with the little ones, offering to help with the kids, we are very fortunate and very, very grateful for that."

Newson said the family had asked the police to tell the driver of the vehicle they didn't have any bad feelings and asked to make sure he was okay too.

"He was thrust into this situation. She's okay and at the end of the day she's still alive and that's all that matters to us."

The family was expecting to have Oceana back at home in the first half of July, after about three months in rehabilitation.

A police spokeswoman confirmed inquiries into the crash were ongoing.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

17 Jun 07:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

'Hot-box' murder: Accused says rival gang bigger issue than patched member's theft

17 Jun 07:00 AM

Defence counsel says Mark Hohua died after falling on to concrete steps while fleeing.

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

CCTV of rider released after blind, deaf cancer survivor struck in hit-and-run

17 Jun 04:05 AM
'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

'Walk away enriched': How to celebrate Matariki in Rotorua

17 Jun 04:00 AM
‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

‘I’ve been put up on the shelf’: Temuera Morrison laments Star Wars limbo

17 Jun 03:16 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP