Young mother Sandi-Lee Field thought her life would be cut short when ACC told her it would not fund her bowel surgery.
"I realised I could end up dying and my kids ain't gonna have a mum, my husband is going to be… what's the male version of widow?"
Field and her husband laugh through her pain, caused by an intramuscular injection last year.
While receiving the injection Field immediately realised something wasn't right.
"I knew straight away when the injection went in something was wrong."
It caused nerve damage - an injury ACC has covered.
She struggles to walk and her hand's so swollen she can't wear her wedding ring. Field also believes the injection created debilitating bowel problems.
Her husband Jaden says she hasn't received appropriate attention for the problems.
"Bowel issue constantly got pushed to the side, we got told she was just depressed and couldn't go to the toilet."
Field asked ACC to fund bowel surgery - which they declined on Thursday, saying the need for surgery wasn't primarily due to her nerve injury.
That's despite a letter from a doctor telling ACC it was a consequence of the nerve injuries.
Field and her husband were feeling nothing but disappointment.
A surgery scheduled for next Wednesday was cancelled - prompting Field to start a Give a Little Page.
The cancellation caused National's Candidate for Wairarapa Mike Butterick to intervene as well.
"They have just been lost in the system," Butterick says.
But on Friday afternoon ACC did a 180 and agreed to fund it.
ACC said it received new medical information on Wednesday - which was too late to factor into yesterday's decision.
After assessing the information, they decided to fund the surgery.
However - Field says it isn't the surgery she wants - a colostomy. ACC insists on funding the surgery she initially requested.
Field just wants to be there for her family: "I want to be around to see my kids grow old."
Those chances are looking better tonight, though she's still in pain, and facing another delay before anything's done about it.
