16 hours of surgery but life's looking up for pilot

Sam Metzger

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The road to recovery will be slow and bumpy for plane-crash survivor Sam Metzger, but his return to the skies is only a matter of time, his mum says.

Mr Metzger, 19, is battling nerve pain and has been in a wheelchair since the Piper Tomahawk plane he was in crashed in the Ruahine Range on July 12.

But he is alive, and that is what matters most to his parents, Mandy and Nathan, who have hired extra staff to look after their busy Auckland cafe and catering company while they provide him with 24-hour care.

Almost two months on, Mr Metzger is reluctant to talk about the incident he and flight instructor Gary Skedgwell, 30, miraculously survived because he wants to focus what little energy he has on getting well.

But he was happy for Mandy to give The Dominion Post an insight into his recovery and let everyone know he is on the mend.

After more than 12 hours of surgery in Palmerston North Hospital and another four hours in Auckland City Hospital, he was now nursing his fractured pelvis and shattered left leg at home, Mrs Metzger said.

"He had a facial fracture, stitches above his eye, lost a tooth and had others loosened at the front. His teeth went through his bottom lip and that was all cut open."

She said her son was fortunate to escape without head or chest injuries, which would have crushed his flying aspirations.

But the constant pain of damaged nerves lasted for hours if not treated with morphine, Mrs Metzger said. "It is a very burning, stabbing pain. Sort of like needles ... He's in tears ... nerve pain really is a hideous pain. It's very hard to control because it comes randomly."

Doctors had not given Mr Metzger a timeline for recovery, because of the complexities of the nerve damage, Mrs Metzger said.

But it was hoped a bone-graft operation later this month to repair the gaps in his leg, being held together by seven bolts, would have him walking in eight weeks.

Mrs Metzger said her son's determination came from believing that the sooner he got back on his feet the sooner he would be back in the air.

He still remembered little of the plane crash, she said.

She considered it a miracle to still have him with her.

Mr Skedgwell was discharged from Hawke's Bay Hospital last month and is recovering at home.

The crash inquiry is expected to take another five months.

- © Fairfax NZ News