Life after jumbo tumble

Little boy’s enthusiasm to see the elephants nearly killed him.

Scrambling over the wall separating Auckland Zoo’s elephant enclosure from the public, young Mike Duthie was breathlessly close to having a private encounter with the huge mammal.

It was 1995, Duthie was 4 years old. But excitement turned to terror when he plummeted 4m into the enclosure, landing near a moat, cracking his head on a rock.

It is not a story that Duthie tells often — “In the right circumstances I’ll pull it out” — but he is divulging the tale for Starship children’s hospital’s 25-year birthday celebrations this week.

A spokesperson for Auckland Zoo struggled to think of other children who fell into animal enclosures and agreed the escapade was “very unusual”.

It was also traumatic.

As spinal fluid leaked out of his ear, zookeepers and Duthie’s father leaped into the enclosure to help the him as ambulances were called.

He was taken to the recently opened Starship Hospital, where he was in a coma for a fortnight, and required years of therapy from a clinical psychologist, a speech and language therapist, physiotherapist and occupational health therapist.

His schooling was delayed, but eventually Duthie recuperated, attending school fulltime by the age of 11 and going on to complete an arts degree.

He now works for Lotto, and his recall of the fall is foggy. What is a vivid memory, however, is his return to the zoo a year later, where staff provided a behind-the-scenes look at all the enclosures.

Finally, Duthie was able to meet the elephants.

“I was not fearful at all, being as inquisitive and adventurous as I was,” Duthie says. “By then I had to wear a helmet basically whenever I was outside, just in case I hit my head again.”

Duthie knows he’s lucky compared to other children who have fallen into enclosures.

Last year in the United States a 3-year-old fell into the enclosure of lowland gorilla Harambe at Cincinnati Zoo, and zookeepers shot the gorilla to save him. In 2012 a 2-year-old died after falling into the wild African Pennsylvania.

Duthie says he’s grateful to the hospital staff who cared for him.

“A lot of what they do there goes unsung, and it really shouldn’t. They’re real heroes.”

Yesterday marked the end of the year-long celebrations for Starship Hospital and Starship Foundation’s 25th birthday, including a Through the Looking Glass ball at Spark Arena, sponsored by Barfoot & Thompson, which raised more than $530,000 for Starship.

Starship Foundation chief executive Brad Clark said the funds would be used for research, advancing medical technology, facilities and staff training.

Starship, which treats patients ranging from premature babies to teenagers, was the country’s first built specifically for children and young people. dogs enclosure in