Andrew the Optimist

“I lost my grip and fell over the front of the boat and got my foot caught up in the propeller,”

(OOOOOO that gotta hurt!!!)

By Melanie Verran

This time last year Andrew McKenzie was in a wheelchair, recovering from a horrific accident in which he was millimetres away from losing his foot.

Now the 12-year-old sailor is back on his feet and looking forward to competing in Turkey as part of the New Zealand optimist team at the world sailing championships in July.

Andrew was selected for the team last year but had to give up his place after an accident at the end of the summer in which he fell out of an inflatable boat. “I lost my grip and fell over the front of the boat and got my foot caught up in the propeller,” he says. “I thought I was going to drown.”

His brother Sam, 14, jumped in to help him. Andrew says his foot looked like “raw meat”. The propeller had sliced it open from one side to the other, severing tendons and breaking the five main bones leading to his toes. “The end of his foot was literally left dangling,” mum Carolyn says.

What followed was two weeks in Starship and Middlemore hospitals, six weeks in a wheelchair and another six on crutches. Andrew was off school for most of term two. Five operations later, he has regained almost all movement in his left foot.

After missing out on the world champs in Sardinia, the Sacred Heart College student was determined to reclaim his spot in this year’s optimist team and was back on the water in no time. He was invited to compete in the Bermuda junior world cup in October, fully funded by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Within two weeks of returning home he was off again to Noumea for the New Caledonia national championships.

In March, Andrew won the Auckland optimist championships and over Easter, placed third at the national championships in Christchurch, earning him a place in the world champs team.

Despite losing three months to habilitation, Andrew improved his national placing from fifth last year. He is the youngest sailor in the team of five.

Mrs McKenzie says he made a remarkable recovery. “He was so lucky he didn’t lose his foot,” she says. “He really, really wanted to get back into the world team.” Sailing is a large part of the Kohimarama family’s life, with Sam now racing 420s and younger sister Olivia, 9, also learning to sail.

Now the McKenzies and Andrew’s teammates are fundraising for the three week trip to Turkey.

Funds raised will also help the optimist team competing at the North American championships in Curacao.


For more information email Carolyn at the.mckenzies@paradise.net.nz.




Photos and story courtesy East and Bays Courier

Lead sponsor for the NZ World Optimist Team is NZ Yachting Trust

Go hard young man, we will follow the team with interest.