Reducing traumatic brain injuries (TBI)

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) affect many people in New Zealand. We want to create awareness and reduce the number, severity and impact of TBIs.

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen to anyone, at any time. An estimated 35,000 people in New Zealand suffer from TBIs every year. Of these, 95% (33,250) are mild TBIs, yet we only receive claims for 22,000, so some people don’t get their injury checked by a health provider.

Most traumatic brain injuries are caused by:

  • falls
  • recreation or playing sport (this makes up 20% to 30% of injuries)
  • using machinery
  • accidents while driving
  • assault.

How traumatic brain injuries can impact lives

We're working to educate people on what a TBI is and how it happens. We want more people to get the treatment, help and care they need.

TBI resources

If you or someone you know have a TBI, we have many resources to help with your recovery.

Type TBI in the search field to find TBI resources

If you have been diagnosed with a concussion, we have information about your brain injury, which you can read when you are ready.

Recovery advice Whakaora Tohutohu for patients

We also fund the book Head Space from the New Zealand Spinal Trust for people who have a claim with us for a TBI.

Request a copy through the NZ Spinal Trust website

Deane's traumatic brain injury

Deane’s story is the same for many people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. He had a significant injury in 2014 which has affected his life and whānau in a very real way. The future is looking up for Deane, but it’s been a long road.

Deane's story

Video transcript for Deane's traumatic brain injury 

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Text appears: “Every day, around 90 traumatic brain injuries happen in New Zealand.” – “On 29 March 2014, Deane sustained a significant traumatic brain injury while mountain biking.”

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Deane mountain biking

Transcript

Deane – “So I was going really fast,”

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Deane sitting in the lounge with his guitar

Text appear: “Deane”

Transcript

Deane – “and I was enjoying myself, like I was in my element.”

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Kahui sitting at an outdoor setting

Text appears: “Kahui” – “Deane’s mother”

Transcript

Kahui – “Kieran had answered the phone, when he got
off the phone and he told us, we all just went quiet, dead quiet.”

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Michaela and Deane sitting in the backyard

Text appears: “Michaela” – “Deane’s sister”

Transcript

Michaela – “He said he's in a critical condition.”

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Kahui embracing Michaela

Transcript

Kahui – “On the inside it was kind of like a scream.”

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Kahui sitting outdoors 

Transcript

Kahui – “You just never want to see anybody in that
state, let alone your own child.”

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Cherie Le Lievre driving her car

Transcript

Cherie Le Lievre – “Any person of any age, can have a traumatic
brain injury.”

Visual

Cherie Le Lievre sitting in the patient’s room

Text appears: “Cherie Le Lievre” – “Occupational Therapist”

Transcript

Cherie Le Lievre – “It affects different people in different ways.”

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Cherie Le Lievre meeting and conversing with Deane, Kahui and Michaela

Transcript

Cherie Le Lievre - “Someone can have a traumatic brain injury and all of their ongoing challenges are invisible, so meeting them and talking to them, you wouldn't know that they continue to struggle.”

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Cherie Le Lievre sitting in the patient’s room

Transcript

Cherie Le Lievre - “And some people can be very affected, where
they're unable to participate in their everyday”

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Person examining x-ray reports

Transcript

Cherie Le Lievre – “life tasks and they need someone to help them
with everything.”

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Cherie Le Lievre sitting in the patient’s room 

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Michael sitting and then lying next to Deane in his medical room

Transcript

Michaela – “He couldn't actually talk or feed himself,
or do anything himself. Even at some stage I fed him, just like when
he was a baby.”

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Deane embracing Michaela sitting down in the backyard

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Kahui and Deane sitting and laughing by looking at old photographs

Transcript

Kahui – “It took a really long time for him to
learn to use a straw.”

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Kahui sitting outdoors

Transcript

Kahui – “One of his hands was starting to just stay
like this.”

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Deane sitting in the lounge with his guitar

Transcript

Deane – “I gradually got it to open and now I'm using
it on the strings.”

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Jane meeting and conversing with Kahui and Deane as they have tea

Transcript

Kahuii – “We'd only been there a day and I met Jane, she was telling us how they were going to help. Which was really overwhelming at the
time because it was blowing me away that all this help was coming from everywhere.”

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Jane visiting a patient in s medical room setting

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Jane sitting in a room setting

Text appear: “Jane Batten” – “ACC Support Coordinator”

Transcript

Jane – “We meet with clients, they work out what they want to achieve and then we put services in place around that to help them achieve their goals.”

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Clips of Deane at various places in his school as well as conversing with others

Transcript

Deane – “One of the main challenges was fatigue, especially
with school, trying to learn new things and I was tired.”

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Jane walking down the school hallway

Transcript

Jane – “ACC statistics show that approximately 14,000
people a year suffer some form of traumatic brain injury.”

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Cards hanging from a string on the wall

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Bicycles and chairs inside the garage

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Clips of Deane playing various sports

Transcript

Kahui – “If it's dangerous, train, learn about the kind of environment you're going to be in and don't do crazy stuff in the heat of the moment.”

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Deane and Kahui sitting and laughing by looking at old photographs

Transcript

Kahui – “It's like he's been given a chance at life,
another one, and he's taken it and just gone flying.

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Deane playing basketball on the court with his friends

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Deane conversing with another student in the school library

Transcript

Deane – “I really want to do good in school, get into
tertiary education and become an environmental engineer.”

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Deane doing kapa Haka in the school hall with other students

Transcript

Michaela – “He goes for everything, he just sticks to
it, he's just smashing it.”

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Deane embracing Micaela sitting in the backyard

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Clips of Deane’s doing various things with this family members

Transcript

Kahui - “We were already close as a family, but now
it's, I can't even express it in words.”

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Kahui sitting outdoors

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Deane hugging Michaela

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Deane playing his guitar in the lounge

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Text appears: “Traumatic brain injuries can happen to anyone, at any time.” – “ACC is committed to reducing the incidence, severity and impact of traumatic brain injuries in New Zealand.”

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ACC logo appears

Text appears next to ACC logo: “Te Kaporeihana Awhina Hunga Whara” – “prevention.care.recovery.”

Last published: 19 September 2023