Spina bifida doesn’t slow finalist down
David’s ‘give it everything’ attitude recognised
Tu¯rangi furniture restorer David Winterburn says every now and then, he’ll throw his crutches across his workshop in frustration. But the challenges David, 44, faces balancing his ‘give it everything’ attitude and running his business Furnichur with the spina bifida he has had for life, paled in comparison with some of the difficulties other people with disabilities face.
David, who was named a finalist in Spirit of Attitude category at the recent Attitude Awards 2020, says being at the awards evening and hearing about what some people achieve every day, was truly humbling and put his own disability in perspective.
In fact, when the accomplishments of David’s fellow finalists were played on the big video screen at the awards he says one of the friends who had gone along with him to the evening turned to him and said simply “nah mate, you haven’t won”.
The eventual category winner, Lusi Faiva, overcomes her cerebral palsy and lack of speech by expressing herself through dance. David says it was incredible hearing her story.
“Lusi is a stunningly proactive and positive human being. She’s an amazing girl, her brain is 110 per cent and the brain is trapped in that body — she’s a weapon of a woman. She was a worthy winner, hell yeah, accomplished so much in her life and hasn’t been acknowledged for it.”
The Attitude Awards are a nationally televised event celebrating the achievements and successes of New Zealanders living with disabilities.
The 2020 black tie gala ceremony in Auckland recognised people from the sector, including employers, employees and entrepreneurs, as well as athletes, young people, and game-changers. David was entered for the awards by Sandra Greenslade of the King Country Electric Power Trust and much to his surprise, received an email informing him that he was one of only three finalists in his category.
David says his life at the moment is “pretty crazy” in between work, shifting house and setting up a new upholstery studio so didn’t really give the event another thought until a frantic call from organisers asking if he was going to attend.
He was allowed to take a friend, so his mate Patrick Nepia went with him, and they bought an extra ticket for their mate Ryan Brawley to come too, making the trip a blokes’ roadie.
“It’s crazy busy time of year. And I’ve been working all the way through to February. I’m always busy.”
Busy can be a problem for David. He says sometimes his legs just can’t keep up with the pace he wants to set around his workshop where he restores and makes mid-century modern and Scandinavian furniture and fittings. For several months now he’s been trying to allow his leg to heal from an old sports injury from years ago. He explains that his spina bifida means injuries never heal like they should. And David is a man who has had a lot of injuries. Mountain bike racing, snowboarding, rugby league have all featured in his life. He has never let the spina bifida hold him back. He says he’s been fighting it for 44 years but it’s also what makes him who he is.
When he was young he had callipers and several surgeries and he was in and out of hospital for various scans, checks and infections until about the age of 30. Treatment while younger got him mobile and walking without crutches and engaging in sport. He says most people don’t realise he has spina bifida because he doesn’t have a wheelchair, and when they see the crutches, just assume he’s had an accident or injury.
But he has to pace himself and pick his way carefully through the day to keep his pain under control.
“I’ve just got to slow down and manage my movements throughout the day . . . it gets frustrating. The number of times I’ve thrown my crutches across the workshop.”
While David jokes that he probably should have won his category — “I’m a pretty amazing person in my own right, I should have won many things” — he says in truth, the awards evening was incredibly valuable for putting the disability community’s achievements into perspective. “I had the chance to be surrounded by fantastic people on a rare evening. Not much of New Zealand gets to see these people and to appreciate them. They get pushed to the side and they’re always seen as a liability. All the people in that room were far from liabilities, they were industry leaders, athletes businessmen and women and amazing people.”