00:02My name is Bonnie. I do have a head injury so I can't remember very well.
00:09I don't recall having a very exciting life but I kind of like that.
00:17Just going to work, looking after your children.
00:22I was drawing at the reception desk and the earthquake struck.
00:28It started to get heavier and started to roll and then jolt.
00:34And that's when the building collapsed.
00:37So she got hit on the head by the falling masonry.
00:40So she got hit on the head so hard that it fractured seven vertebrae downwards.
00:46When you hear, oh yeah, Bonnie broke her back in the earthquake, you think she fell and something landed on
00:50her back.
00:51No, it compressed and shattered them downwards.
00:53I just slowly recovered. It was like a baby learning to crawl.
00:58Which I'd have to say the head injury was the worst because obviously I'd be okay, get exhausted, overstimulated, pass
01:07out.
01:07ACC, they treated me like I was trying to bludge. Like there was no real injuries.
01:15At that time she also needed something to focus on either as a distraction or a coping mechanism.
01:23Jack understood the drive I had to learn to tattoo. I thought it would be a massive ask for her.
01:30I want to do whatever I can to support and help her. So I would, yeah, I would have done
01:36anything.
01:38You know, slow going at the start, but at the same time she didn't quit.
01:42Watching her do her job and learning and picking up the skills was really what got me through the hardest
01:49part of my life has sparked.
01:53I have nothing. It's all collapsed. I'm injured. It just took me away from all of those thoughts.
02:00And she just gave me a whole lot of hope that we were working for something great.
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