Being Me: Te Huia Apaapa
26-year-old Te Huia Apaapa is a gifted runner and triathlete known as ‘The Rocketman’. Te Huia has a...
Being Me: Joshua Sade-Inia
Joshua Sade-Inia is a burns survivor who’s scars cover half of his body. To Josh they represent his ...
Being Me
The quintessential Attitude episode. Being Me tells the story of remarkable individuals who face the...
Being Me: Juanita Willems
Pre-Christmas Juanita Willems is flat out, collecting, wrapping and distributing presents for foste...
Being Me: Bailee Lobb
Installation artist Bailee Lobb uses her colourful works to explore lived experience of disability, ...
Being Me: Susan Williams 8/5/22
Non-binary performance artist Susan Williams adores theatre. Their latest show, Illegally Blind, is ...
Being Me: Gigi
Gigi, a sassy girl with Down Syndrome from a small town America has a big dream - to walk the catwal...
Being Us: Nathan and Michael
A friendship born out of a love for sport, Nathan and Michael's fates aligned thanks to their passio...
Being Us: Liam and Shane
Liam has Down Syndrome, and while technically Shane is teaching him life skills, Liam's the one who'...
Being Me: Claire
Claire Freeman's achieved a lot since a spinal injury that put her in a wheelchair at 17, a design d...
Being Me Freedom
Freedom was diagnosed with eye cancer at three months old, having both eyes removed by age five. Now...
Being Me Shakti
Shakti Krishnan is leaving his family to pursue tertiary life in the big smoke, and to prove to his ...
Being Me: Heather
As Heather Lawson turns heads while walking the streets of Melbourne with her dressed-up walking can...
Being Me: Devon Briggs
Para-athlete Devon Briggs was born with severe clubfeet, twisted backwards. The 18-year-old has end...
Being Me: Carlos
Carlos Biggeman is an award-winning photographer, he’s about to publish a book of his work. He was b...
Being Me: Cory
Punk-rock frontman Cory Newman is creating big waves with his band. The award-winning 17-year-old, w...
Being Me: Eamon
32-year-old Eamon Wood has travelled all over the world in his wheelchair. Now he’s back home in Chr...
Being Me: Jono
At birth, Jono Nelson was given just 24 hours to live. Now the Timaru-based hand cyclist, who lives ...
Being Me: Brylee
At six, Brylee Mills lost her arm, and has been coming to terms with it ever since. She's embarking ...
Being Me: Brent Eyskens
Unable to communicate verbally, songwriter Brent Eyskens - who lives with Cerebral Palsy - has found...
Being Me: Eltje
Eltje lived for cycling and competing. While out training, she was struck by a car and suffered a tr...
Being Me: Kiranjit Singh
Tetraplegic, Kiranjit Singh, is competing to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics in Para-sport shooting...
Being Me: Sam Smith
Sam Smith is a comedian and a new dad. He doesn't take life too seriously but he's just been diagnos...
Being Me: Jason
Throughout childhood Jason Edgecombe was different and suffered endless rejection. But a diagnosis o...
Being Me Sam
Sam Humphrey is the height of your average 7-year old. Except that he's not 7 - he's 22. However Sam...
Being Me: Cody Steps Up
Tetraplegia hasn’t stopped wheelchair rugby star Cody Everson from stepping up to adulthood. He owns...
Being Me: Danielle Aitchison
Danielle Aitchison was born with Cerebral Palsy. As a child she struggled to walk, but her family en...
Being Me: Steff Green
Author Steff Green writes full-time from her home in the Kaipara Harbour. Legally blind, Steff was o...
Being Me Rex
Rhys Davies was a successful I.T. engineer before a head injury changed life dramatically. He's not ...
Being Me Alix
Alix Generous has spoken at the United Nations, made a significant contribution to science, given tw...
Being Me: Robbie
Robbie Francis is 27, and doing her bit to change the world. She's bringing together disability, sus...
Being Me: John
Sport has been a huge part of John Marrable’s life since an accident put him in a wheelchair. His ma...
Being Me: Aidan Terpstra
Aidan’s life changed forever when he was knocked out with a king-hit punch. The injury to his brain ...
Being Me: Lusi
Groundbreaking performer Lusi Faiva reconnects with her Samoan heritage as she makes her mark on Wel...
Being Me: Petra
When she was six Petra was diagnosed with cancer. She beat it - four times before she was sixteen. N...
Being Me: Ian
Ian Stewart is a flamboyant 24-year-old with an eye for fashion, beauty and soap operas. But when dy...
Being Me: Josh Davies
26-year-old Josh Davies is a stand-up comedian trying to turn making people laugh into a full time l...
Being Me: Veronique Theberge
Five years on from an acquired brain injury due to encephalitis, Veronique Theberge is training for ...
Being Me: Hayley
17-year-old double amputee, Haley Birch is breaking records. Having survived meningococcal disease, ...
Being Me: Rachael Leahcar
Australian singer-songwriter, Rachael Leahcar, was born with retinitis pigmentosa and at 25-years-ol...
Being Me: Geneva
Geneva Tino's cerebral palsy means she needs a TalkLink device to communicate... ironically the 24-y...
Being Me: Jared Flitcroft
Jared Flitcroft is a filmmaker, businessman, family man, and he is Deaf. Overcoming barriers to achi...
Being Me: Dillon Maydon
Dillon's life was altered at just eighteen when he was diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare ge...
Being Us: Andrey and Eilish
Best friends Andrey and Eilish are the Yin to each other's Yang and would be lost without one anothe...
Being Me Nick
Nick Chisholm is a body builder whose body is paralysed, a talker who spells words out with his eyes...
Being Me: Ripu
Ripu was 21, living in Sydney and finishing a Masters in Journalism when meningococcal septicaemia n...
Being Me: Cyrus
Resourceful 13-year-old Cyrus, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, wanted an accessible swing in the park...
Being Me: Marfan Syndrome
Over 6 feet tall at just 13 years old, Milly manages the rare condition Marfan Syndrome, while griev...
Being Me: William
Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety as a child, 25-year-old William Luskie is now an...
Being Me: Erica
Born with a rare condition that affects her outward appearance, Erica Perry proves it’s what’s on th...
Being Me: Rachel Māia
Rachel Māia lives in constant pain, considering amputating her leg to reach new heights.
Being Me: Barney Looks Back
Barney lost his hands and legs from meningitis as a baby. At 25, he looks back on the life lessons ...
Being Me: Samarra
Samarra Wright grew up fearing she’d get MND - it killed her mother and many of her wider family. H...
Being Me: Jack
At 18, Jack Brown made a decision that would put him in a wheelchair for life. Facing his new realit...
Being Me: Sarah
Though born with CHARGE syndrome, 22-year-old Sarah Dalton doesn’t let it define her. She’s an avid ...
Being Me: Joshua
Joshua Sade-Inia is a burns survivor. The scars, which cover almost half his body represent his ins...
Being Me: Ming Ming
Blind since birth, Ming Ming has never let that stop him being involved in everything from cricket t...
Being Me: Kasem
13-year-old refugee Kasem lost his leg and much of his upper arm in a bomb attack in Syria, which al...
Barney Koneferenisi’s parents always dreamed he might be an All Black, but when he contracted meningitis at four months old this severely impacted his life. He had his right hand amputated and parts of his left hand, then after many complications throughout his early years when he was 10, the doctors had to amputate his left leg and later also his right.
But this has not affected Barney’s positive outlook on life. He wants to change other people’s perception of what those with a disability can do.
Unable to help his parents physically in the way that is expected within Samoan culture, Barney is working towards being able to fund their retirement and care for them by getting an education.
At AUT he completed a double-degree in law and business with a double-major in economics and marketing, and is on track to being able to provide for his mother and father. He is breaking the stereotype of what people with disabilities can do within his culture, by working to change long-held perceptions.
“In the Samoan culture, disability is very looked down upon because if your child has a disability they immediately think they’re useless as they can’t do anything around the house.”
He is grateful for his parents giving him the best life they could, despite being immigrants to New Zealand and having little to no support due to Barney’s disabilities.
“My parents pretty much stuck up for me when I was a kid, they had the choice to put me up for adoption but they chose not to.”
In 2013 Barney travelled to Samoa to see what life was like there for people living with disabilities. He struggled with the attention his wheelchair attracted, but he set out to shift people’s mindsets.
During his time in Samoa he visited ‘Loto Taumafai’ a school for children with disabilities:
“Loto Taumafai opened in 1981, before it opened most disabled kids didn’t go to school.”
Barney believes if his family had stayed in Samoa he would have attended the school, which currently has a register of 140 children but no specialised facilities or programs to support them. The teachers make do with what they have, a standard school building and resources stretched across the children.
On his travels Barney met a five-year-old girl named Sally who has cerebral palsy, he visited her and her family at their home to see what obstacles she faces. Her biggest challenge was having a wheelchair which did not fit her or the terrain, and made it difficult for her to get around in comfort. The area she lived in was also not tailored to accommodate people with disabilities.
“It was wiped out by a cyclone and after the rebuild there was no money left to install ramps or anything to help people with disabilities.”
The family lost most of their possessions in the cyclone and they do the best they can with what they have now. Sally’s younger brother also lives with a disability, he cannot talk because he has a malformed mouth and no-one knows what to do to help him.
Barney’s trip made him realise how lucky he was to be living in New Zealand with access to support and services.
“My parents always told me to be grateful for what you do have because other people don’t have it, look at the things you have because you don’t know somewhere across the world people are trying to get that. And when we went to Samoa that’s exactly what we experienced.”
Travelling around Samoa shifted his view of the country, “meeting the people who were looking after others with disabilities.. has changed my whole outlook on Samoan culture.”
Being Me: Barney Looks Back
Barney lost his hands and legs from meningitis as a baby. At 25, he looks back on the life lessons ...
The Disease That Is Killing My Family: Part 5
For years we've been told to eat less and move more and that we are in control of what we eat; but p...
Maia and Letitia
Maia Amai's face was ravaged in a car fire when she was a toddler. She barely left the house until c...
Being Me: Hayley
17-year-old double amputee, Haley Birch is breaking records. Having survived meningococcal disease, ...
Being Me: Robbie
Robbie Francis is 27, and doing her bit to change the world. She's bringing together disability, sus...
Maia
Maia Amai bears brutal scars - the result of a car fire when she was just 18mth olds. A subsequent s...
The Disease That Is Killing My Family: Part 2
Brian Kairau can't feel his feet. Years of Type 2 Diabetes has damaged the small blood vessels leavi...
Bulletproof: Matthew
Carefree farmer Matt Bryson lost his leg in an accident on the family farm four years ago. He contin...
Barney Makes a Difference
Barney lost his hands and legs after an aggressive bout of meningitis. Now a high achiever, Barney i...
The Disease That Is Killing My Family: Part 1
Type 2 Diabetes is one of the most serious public health issues facing New Zealanders. What is it li...
The Disease That Is Killing My Family: Part 4
Type 2 Diabetes is now the leading cause of death in Samoa. It threatens to overwhelm the health sys...
Where Are They Now? Bea Learns to Dance
Bea Wuts was 4 years old when both her feet were amputated. Now 8, Bea is a keen swimmer and horse r...
Green and Golden Couple
Chris Bond and Bridie Kean are both amputees who wear their scars with pride. This couple knows a lo...
Lilly's Legs
Lilly Lomas had both legs amputated. She is now learning to walk on prosthetics; maybe her heroines ...
Life with a Backwards Foot
Seventeen-year old Sean Prenderville survived aggressive cancer in his thigh bone and underwent a ra...
Being Me: Ripu
Ripu was 21, living in Sydney and finishing a Masters in Journalism when meningococcal septicaemia n...
Frontline Paramedic
Paramedic, Derek Eady, lost his leg after falling 5m from his own roof. He's refusing to give up on ...
Jono Brownjohn: Raising the Bar
Jono Brownjohn has more power in one leg than many track athletes with two. He wants gold at the Par...
Scott's Comeback
After loosing his leg from a rugby injury, Scott Martlew thought his dreams of becoming an elite ath...
The Disease That Is Killing My Family: Part 3
At 52, former gang leader turned youth worker Brian Kairau has one more dream left: riding a Harley.
Being Me: Brylee
At six, Brylee Mills lost her arm, and has been coming to terms with it ever since. She's embarking ...
My Alive Day
Cameron Clapp was 15 years old when he was hit by a freight train. It took both his legs and an arm,...
Rotationplasty: My Backwards Foot
Having beaten an aggressive cancer in his thigh bone, 14-year-old Sean Prendeville is now facing a r...
Baby Charlotte Grows Up
Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman lost her limbs to meningitis as a baby. Now she's 11, and learning to do ...
SheLift Part 1
Each year girls and women with various abilities and limb differences from all over the States meet ...
SheLift: Part 2
Each year girls and women with various abilities and limb differences from all over the States meet ...
Cameron Comes of Age
In everything he does, Cameron has had to find his own way. Born without fully formed arms and legs,...
Wheel Blacks Special: Part 2
Wheel Blacks Special: Part 1
Are the Wheelblacks on track for gold in Beijing? They brought home medals in Sydney and Athens and ...
What's Your Possibility? Paddy Walsh
Shakti has a chat with Paddy Walsh. Paddy, a 15 year old amputee and sportswoman talks to Shakti abo...
Question Time: Living with a Prosthetic Leg
In this episode of Question Time, we are asking Robbie about living with a prosthetic leg. Made wit...
Question Time: Septicaemia Survivor
Five years ago Korrin's life turned upside down when she contracted sepsis which resulted in amputat...
Love Is Blind: Korin & Craig
When Korrin lost her hands and feet to septicaemia, Craig was by her side the whole time. Korrin had...
Diabetes: The Silent Killer
Type 2 diabetes is New Zealand’s silent killer. More than 250,000 Kiwis live with it; a further 100,...
Ian's first steps
Iron Man Ian Winson lost both his legs in a freak gas explosion two years ago. He desperately wants ...
Being Me: Kasem
13-year-old refugee Kasem lost his leg and much of his upper arm in a bomb attack in Syria, which al...
Ian's story: How I lost my legs and found freedom
Though things looked bleak after a deadly explosion, Ian Winson didn't let it dampen his determinati...
Bulletproof: Shaz
Less than two years after losing her left arm, Shaz Dagg became the first female amputee to complete...
Bulletproof: Mitch Joynt
Mitch Joynt is lucky to be alive. The young arborist lost his leg when he was dragged into a woodchi...
Jamie Nepia
Jamie Nepia lost a leg after a violent shooting. To help rebuild her life, she took up boxing and di...
Being Me: Rachel Māia
Rachel Māia lives in constant pain, considering amputating her leg to reach new heights.
Being Me: Hayley
17-year-old double amputee, Haley Birch is breaking records. Having survived meningococcal disease, ...
Bulletproof: Matthew
Carefree farmer Matt Bryson lost his leg in an accident on the family farm four years ago. He contin...
Love Is Blind: Korin & Craig
When Korrin lost her hands and feet to septicaemia, Craig was by her side the whole time. Korrin had...
Being Me: Barney Looks Back
Barney lost his hands and legs from meningitis as a baby. At 25, he looks back on the life lessons ...
Being Me: Hayley
17-year-old double amputee, Haley Birch is breaking records. Having survived meningococcal disease, ...
My Perfect Family: Courtenay
Demar Gear was just five months old when she contracted meningitis, leaving her unable to walk or ta...
Being Me: Ripu
Ripu was 21, living in Sydney and finishing a Masters in Journalism when meningococcal septicaemia n...
Baby Charlotte Grows Up
Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman lost her limbs to meningitis as a baby. Now she's 11, and learning to do ...
Meningitis: An Insidious Disease
Barney Koneferenisi and Charlotte Cleverly-Bisman both survived the onslaught of meningitis but live...
My Perfect Family: Sam and Jason
Sam lost her sight as a baby due to meningitis, and her husband Jason has limited vision due to a ge...
