Motorcyclist wakes from four-week coma
There were fears Michael ‘‘Hooky’’ Walker would die after he was critically injured in a motorcycle crash in mid-Canterbury.
However, he has woken up after spending almost a month in a coma – much to the relief of family and friends who hailed it as ‘‘the best news’’.
Walker took his HarleyDavidson out for a quick ride before a barbecue dinner with his family on October 24.
He did not make it home, crashing on Coleridge Rd, near Lake Coleridge, about 6.45pm.
He sustained bleeding on his brain, multiple rib, femur and spinal fractures, and a collapsed lung.
Walker was rushed to Christchurch Hospital, where he has undergone at least three surgeries and remains in the intensive care unit.
Skye McCormack said her step-father’s final surgery ‘‘went well’’ and he awoke from his coma on Saturday.
‘‘[He’s] doing so well. He’s awake and sustaining his own breathing well. He’s trying to talk but it’s still really exhausting for him, so he’s just using [his] eyebrows as communication at the moment,’’ she said.
Walker works as an engineer at the Trustpower Lake Coleridge Power Station.
He completed a marine engineering apprenticeship while serving in the Royal New Zealand Navy and was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996.
Alongside his wife, Jo Walker, he volunteers for the Soldiers Sailors Airmens Association of New Zealand (SSAANZ), a community for current and former defence force personnel. He is also a trustee.
An SSAANZ spokesman said in a Facebook post that Walker waking from his coma was ‘‘the best news’’. ‘‘Hooky has been through the absolute wars and has come through the worst,’’ the post read.
‘‘His main surgeries [are] all done for now [and] he has slowly been brought out of his coma.
‘‘Those of you that know Hooky will not be surprised by his first communications.
‘‘His first utterances have been, ‘Don’t sell my bike,’ [and] ‘I want a mince pie’.’’
The spokesman said Hooky was able to recognise his family after waking up and it was likely that he had avoided a ‘‘traumatic brain injury’’.
A Givealittle fundraising page has been set up online for koha (donations) to help Walker’s family travel from Lake Coleridge Village to see him in Christchurch. Just over $17,100 had been donated as of yesterday.
A police spokeswoman earlier told The Press that Walker’s motorcycle was found by a passerby who called emergency services. Another spokeswoman confirmed police are continuing to make inquiries into the crash.
‘‘[He’s] doing so well. He’s awake and sustaining his own breathing well. He’s trying to talk but it’s still really exhausting for him, so he’s just using [his] eyebrows as communication at the moment.’’
Skye McCormack Michael Walker’s step-daughter