Bryce Dinneen became a C4 tetraplegic after a diving accident. Determined to continue with his aquatic pastimes, Dinneen founded Wish4Fish, a charitable trust that helps people with disabilities enjoy the ocean. Having raised $2.4 million to build a 17.5-metre catamaran that is fully accessible, Bryce is passionate about helping people rediscover their love of the ocean. Dinneen has been nominated for an Attitude Impact Award as founding trustee of Wish4Fish and the awards will be celebrated in a one-hour special on TVNZ1, December 18, at 4pm, hosted by Simon Dallow.
I was born in Auckland in 1978 and, because Dad worked for the ANZ Bank, we travelled around the country a fair bit as he was transferred between branches. When I was really small we moved to New Plymouth, where my sister was born, then to Wellington for primary school. I used to head down to Plimmerton Wharf when we lived there, to try to catch sprats and spotties. Back in Auckland, I finished primary and intermediate, and there we had a 14-foot boat we'd take fishing in the Manukau Harbour. Sometimes, when it was teachers-only day, dad would take a day off and we'd go fishing.
It was obvious from an early age where my interests lay. Once, when we were visiting friends on a farm in Silverdale, we were all trying to catch eels and there was this one eel no one could catch. When everybody went back to the house for lunch, I stayed there on my own and gave myself the challenge of getting the eel. I'd probably let it go now, but back when I was about 7 or 8, all I wanted to do was catch that eel. We also had holidays on Lake Rotorua and up at Mangawhai Heads, and I always wanted to be around the water. That's how the seeds were sown, from fishing off a wharf, then the beach, then being lucky enough to have access to a small boat, I just loved it.
When Dad was transferred to Tauranga, I started fourth form at Tauranga Boys' College, and Mum and Dad decided there'd be no more moving while we finished our education. I was a prefect in seventh form, in 1996, and I was also the chair of the charity committee. This meant organising a whole lot of Year 13 boys to pick daffodils or cook sausages - so that part of my life hasn't changed, just the magnitude. I was also extremely passionate about sport, especially cricket and I was an age group rep for Bay of Plenty, and I played for the BOP senior men's cricket team while still at school.
After school I started a building apprenticeship before working in hospo, in bars, restaurants and hotels. Eventually I decided to get a degree so drifted down to Otago. I'd only done one semester when I had the accident during a stag do. It was January 28, 2007, Wellington Cup Day. Like most Kiwi blokes on a stag do, we started with a champagne breakfast, which meant not too much breakfast but quite a bit of champagne. When we headed to town along the waterfront, some of the other guys wanted to go for a swim. I was in my number ones, so not too keen, I just wanted to get a feed, but I jumped in anyway. Even though I've been around water all my life, I misjudged it and everything changed in a heartbeat.
When something like that happens, your body knows something is very wrong. I was scooped out of the water and taken to Wellington Hospital. I asked the doctor in ICU how bad the break was, and he said it was like an elephant had stood on a tomato. There I was, living my life, thinking it's all good. I went through such a kaleidoscope of emotions, but I learnt to turn adversity into opportunity.
Some of the guys who were there that day, they've not handled it very well, and that has always been one of my motivations. To prove to them that I've got this sorted. I just have to go about things in a different way. Trust me, I have multiple challenges, but it's amazing what you can achieve if you have a positive mindset.
After Wellington, I was transferred by air ambulance to ICU in Christchurch and after two weeks there I was sent to the Burwood Spinal Unit. My break was so bad, they couldn't fix it with surgery so they put my head and neck in traction, which meant a couple of bolts on either side of my head keeping it in place. When your head's in traction, they suggest you put photos of friends and family and good times on the ceiling. But one day I was really upset and I said to someone, please just grab a pillow and put it over my face. Then I looked up at the ceiling, at my family they were all up there and I wondered, how do I get my head around this? And I saw two common denominators up there, one was friends and family and the other was fishing, and I knew I had to fish again.
I was 29 years old and looking at the ceiling 23 hours a day and, for the first four or five months, I thought I'd end up like Christopher Reeve, Superman, after his spinal cord injury. Eventually, after 11 months, I was discharged from Burwood in a power chair. My family was amazing. My sister, who lived in Christchurch, came to the spinal unit every day, even though she had a full-time job and a partner. It was really hard for Mum and Dad to see their son go through something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy but at Burwood, if you're willing to listen and learn, the people there will teach you how to get back some quality of life.
Back home in Tauranga, I had support workers and care providers 24/7. There were occupational therapists and physios who helped me figure out how to brush my hair and my teeth. How to turn the lights on and off. Then I learnt how to get myself to the supermarket, all the things most human beings take for granted. A lot of people, when they spend that much time on bed rest, their health deteriorates but I used it as an opportunity to get clarity. One day, I'm sitting there, talking to the lady who was looking after me about my dream of going fishing and she started typing.
I started telling other people, and some of them thought I was crazy, said you can't get wheelchairs in boats, but that was the essence of Wish4Fish, an organisation that would give people the gift of getting out on the water who otherwise couldn't go. I told Dad I wanted to set up a charity and I needed governance. With his banking background, we found a lawyer and accountant who worked pro bono and the trust deed was drawn up.
Next, we needed money. We started with a fishing competition. Forty people turned up and we raised a few thousand to get our first few people out on the water and it grew from there. We kept working, cooking sausages, selling raffle tickets, then it got bigger and a supporters club formed and they held luncheons, gala race nights and cooked dinners. We went to trade and fishing shows to tell our story and shake the bucket.
At first, we worked with local charter operators, breaking down barriers to access and opportunity. Then we met Matt Watson at the Hutchwilco Boat Show and I asked him to come fishing with me. Four months later Matt told me he was coming to Tauranga and we spent three days on the water. I'm in awe of his ability to connect with people and Wish4Fish was lucky enough to receive a donation from ITM on his behalf for $5000. A decent wedge.
After that show aired, Ray Lowe came forward. He's a semi-retired fabricator slash engineer and he said he wanted to build me an apparatus that would let me fish independently and he came up with the Wish4Fish striker and now I can fish 95 per cent independently. When Ray asked to hear more about my vision, we drew the plan for an 11-metre vessel on the ground with chalk and it started to feel tangible. The boat's actually 17.5 metres now and it's cost closer to $5 million. We got a big lotteries grant, as well as fundraising and slowly the dream came true, but I couldn't have done it without Alloy Cats in Mt Manganui.
The boat was surveyed last week and Maritime NZ signed it off. It still feels surreal, to have lived and breathed this for so long. But I didn't do it for glory. I did it for the magic moments, for the smiles and stories we'll create.