James’ story: ‘One injury can have a big consequence’
A workplace injury kept petrolhead James Dunlop out of his rally car and impacted his employment. But our support helped him recover and he’s now enjoying being back behind the wheel.
Amateur rally driver James Dunlop has a million reasons to sell his race car until he gets on the start line.
The 40-year-old, a part-time cameraman and full-time financial advisor for Safeguard Life, is happy to be back behind the wheel after suffering a nasty hand injury.
A workplace injury three years ago made him realise how much he loved to push his rally car to its limit on the gravel roads at events around the motu.
“Being in the rally car is my happy place,” the father-of-two says. “It’s my favourite thing to do, and I really missed it.”
But James has a love-hate relationship with his car.
“It’s the worst thing to own,” he says with a laugh.
“There’s a lot of cost and effort to keep the thing running. You’re constantly fixing things, having to take it for a warrant of fitness and servicing, the list goes on.
“To get to the start line, you must first go through scrutineering for the event, where they check the car over thoroughly. It’s quite stressful and frustrating if something needs changing at the last minute.
“I keep thinking to myself, ‘I’m going to sell this thing. That’s it, I’m done. I’m totally over it.’
“But then I get onto the start line, the lights flash, you drop it into gear and put the hammer down and that moment changes everything. I have a massive smile across my face, and I remember how much I love doing this.”
Paying the price for a preventable injury
James, who now works behind the scenes of a television show, had always been told that film and television studios can be a dangerous place to work, with a lot of moving parts and heavy equipment.
“But I didn’t think anything would ever happen to me. It was a totally preventable injury,” he admits.
At the end of a shift, James was closing down his camera and adjusting the ped – a large metal device which changes the elevation of the camera.
He was bringing down the ped when something distracted him and he looked away for a second. He had his hand in the clamp and it came slamming down on his index finger.
“I quietly stepped away, collected my things, left the building, sat in my car and then screamed,” he says.
Those screams continued all the way home.
“The pain was incredibly intense. It was the most pain I’d ever experienced.”
'I couldn't move my finger'
James felt ashamed about how his injury happened, so didn’t immediately tell his work mates about the incident.
But he was still in a huge amount of pain and his finger wasn’t getting better.
“When I got home, I realised I couldn’t move it and started to worry I’d done some real damage,” he says.
So James went to the doctor and X-rays showed he’d suffered a fracture and muscle tissue damage.
He was sent to a hand therapist for treatment. His finger was put in a brace and his hand was placed in a wax bath to rebuild the tissue around the finger joint.
“They were brilliant to deal with,” he says.
ACC eases the recovery journey
James visited the hand therapist five times and was surprised to hear that every time there was no cost for his treatment.
“It was all covered by ACC,” he says.
“That was a huge relief for me, and it was nice to know I had that support to get back to work and everyday life.
“I wanted to get my finger and hand back to a place where it was fully functioning again and I didn’t have any long-term problems. So to have that support from ACC over an extended period of time was huge.”
Recovery at work plays important role
James’ recovery took two months. The injury affected his ability to operate as a cameraman, but he could continue in his clerical role as a financial advisor.
He says completing his recovery at work made a big difference.
“I’d only recently started my other career as a financial advisor, so it was important for me to stay working and not lose all I’d learned from taking some time off,” he says.
“Being near people at the office to ask questions and be part of training exercises helped me complete my training to be a fully-qualified financial advisor in life and health insurances.”
Research from ACC shows recovering at work after an injury helps people get better, sooner.
With the right team in place to support the person’s recovery, they are also more likely to return to their job and the things they enjoy outside of work.
Teamwork makes recovery work – Learn what role you can play in recovery at work
‘Have a Hmmm’ to stay injury free
For James, getting back behind the wheel was worth the wait.
“It was the best feeling,” he says.
“The injury was on my gear-change hand and I drive a six-speed manual, so I’ve got to be able to pump through the gears and pull up the handbrake. Not having any pain in my hand was key to that.”
James is now fully back at work and, when he’s on the camera, often thinks about the moment of his injury.
“I should have been focusing more on what I was doing at the time. When I do camera work now and I pull down a tripod, I think of that moment,” he says.
“It’s a good reminder that one small injury like that can have a big consequence.”
