"The accident was the easy part, it is the bit after that is the problem."
Ike Brown is talking about the crash in Midhirst on October 2 this year in which he was the driver of the truck that was hit by a ute towing a trailer. Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
"I'll never forget that date," says Yvonne Brown, talking of the day that her husband, Ike, was taken to hospital in an ambulance after the crash that saw his face and body showered with broken glass and his hand injured. Yvonne was at work at Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) when Ike's stepmother called her to tell her there had been an accident. Ike works for his father's business and has been "driving trucks for Dad for over 24 years now".
"I had seen him coming off the bridge," Ike says, talking about the other vehicle involved. "He was basically jack-knifing as he came off the bridge. I thought, 'I'm not going to run you over, mate' so to avoid hitting his cab, I aimed for the trailer." Hitting the trailer, Ike was then at the mercy of the large pipes carried on it. At least one of them flew off the trailer and crashed through his windscreen. Putting his hands up to protect his eyes, Ike's left hand was hit. Two weeks later, and that hand is still out of action.
Ike has also noticed a huge drop in his energy levels and has gone from someone whom Yvonne describes as "never still" to sleeping a lot and with "maybe 60 per cent of my usual energy", Ike says.
Ike and Yvonne have four grandchildren - the eldest two, Emily and Tony, are both 3 years old and Ike had a picture of ET drawn on his truck to represent them. He had been deciding what to add to the truck to mark the arrival of the next two grandchildren, Sophie and Natalie, both 2 years old, but now is waiting to hear if the truck will be written off by the insurers or repaired. All four grandchildren were quite frightened by the accident and found it hard at first, says Yvonne, "They weren't that keen to talk and cuddle him after the accident - they were quite scared."
The impact on their family shows in other ways too. The house that they were in the middle of renovating is currently "on hold - the kitchen was meant to be done this weekend" Ike laughs ruefully, but as he can't make himself a cup of tea, let alone wield a hammer, that isn't happening now. "Thank goodness the bathroom had been finished," adds Yvonne, her humour strong despite the couple's frustration at being temporarily unable to continue the renovations while Ike is incapacitated and on a reduced income while on ACC.