Auction raises $36k for crash survivor

Seven months on from the car crash that very nearly took her life, Suzi Merson is learning to walk again.

‘‘I’ve got a great admiration for toddlers now,’’ she laughs. Merson had hoped to be walking unaided by spring, but is thinking now it might be Christmas.

‘‘I thought I would put an artificial leg on and would just walk off into the sunset, that was about three months ago.’’

Merson suffered horrific injuries when she was involved in a head-on collision on February 3 this year – a dozen broken bones, internal injuries and a severe trauma that required one leg to be amputated below the knee.

Merson’s community has rallied around her and on Wednesday night 220 people showed up to an art auction, called Framed For Suzi, in Havelock North and $36,000 was raised.

The money will go towards helping Merson and her family.

Artists, many of whom pictureframer Merson had worked with, donated 40 pieces.

Speaking the day after the auction, Merson said seeing so many people gathered for her made her feel ‘‘permanently a little bit better’’. The organisation of the auction was led by John Macpherson, whose business had been next to Merson’s in Havelock North, for years. ‘‘Everyone loves Suzi,’’ he said. The auction ‘‘went off like a dream’’.

Not surprisingly, the crash altered Merson and her family’s life in a huge way. She had to sell her business, but the family still has a hand in it, with her daughter Abbey and husband Shane managing the shop.

Because so many pieces were donated for the auction, some would have to be sold online, Macpherson said. That auction can be found at gangoffour.co.nz. People can also donate to Merson through a Givealittle page called Framed For Suzi.