Ponsonby local Sally Wenley, who has wheeled the footpaths and enjoyed wining and dining in the suburb for more than thirty years, has released her memoir The Crash (Massery University Press) and it went straight to the top of sales for non-fiction books sold in New Zealand.
In 1987, Wenley was a driven, fun-loving and at times naughty sports prefect at her Hawke’s Bay school with everything to live for. When a bus rolled down a bank on a school trip, five people were killed and she became a paraplegic, her sporting dreams in tatters.
Now an award-winning radio reporter, in her engaging, uplifting and at times hilarious memoir Wenley looks back at the angry, defiant, risk-taking younger self who used alcohol and arrogance to mask physical pain and trauma. And, for the first time in 40 years, she also looks squarely at the accident.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University followed by a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the NZ Broadcasting School in Christchurch, Wenley moved to Auckland in 1993 to start her journalism career as an intern at TVNZ. She tells tales about the culture in the TV newsroom and hijinks on Ponsonby Road, including adults-only adventures in bars and restaurants along the strip.
‘Gosh I was naughty and had so much fun in my 20s and 30s when Ponsonby Road was just humming, ; she says.‘ Sadly, most of the bars I spent time in are no longer there, and there are now many windows with For Lease signs on them. Several friends came out about their sexuality during that time and it was a big deal as they came from conservative families.’
Wenley remembers the original Pride parades – then called Hero parades – as being sensational, with some exhibitors’ outfits leaving not much to the imagination. “‘They were held later at night, and I was so excited for my friends who were taking part in the parade in scantily clad leather outfits, G strings with nothing on top and surrounded by plenty of tinsel and music.”
Wenley says her memoir was about three to four years in the making and was written after she had major surgery after falling out of her wheelchair while watching a Pride parade.. “I was turning around and my whole chair tipped sideways, so I landed on my hip/pelvis area. I was unaware of my poor bone density until, after nearly forty years with a spinal injury, my pelvis fractured. Now I have nuts and bolts holding it together. The medical team were wonderful. they explained what was happening and talked about everything.’
Wenley says that led to her to want to know more about her original spinal and head injury from the bus crash. She retrieved her medical records and the coroner’s report into the crash. ‘Back then I was unconscious for two weeks and have no memory of the crash. I became conscious in intensive care in Christchurch, where I had been flown from Hawke’s Bay. I then spent six months in the Burwood spinal unit in Christchurch before returning home. By the time I got home I felt people weren’t talking about what had happened and there was a stiff-upper-lip mantra about the whole thing,.
“Writing this memoir has been an educational and emotional journey,” she says. “I hope it is read by counsellors and medical professionals so they can realise how positively life changing, and literally life saving, the work they do above and beyond what they learn during their training is for someone like me. A lot of these clever people doing long and stressful hours may get little thanks. I believe I am an example that shows their dedication is worth it. I would like school board members and principals to read it too, and then check that their policies for dealing with a potential trauma are up to date. I also hope they never need to put those policies into practice.
Sally Wenley’s book The Crash: A memoir is in all good bookshops. It is also available as an ebook and can be bought online from Massey University Press.
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