Chris Moran

My name is Chris Moran and I am 56 years old and am married to Sharon. I have two children, Damian 30 and Tristan 25.

On 12 August 1973 I broke my neck playing for Waihi Athletic Club in Waihi. I became a tetraplegic with a break level at C5/6 making me paralyzed from just above the nipple line and partly in my arms and hands.

As I was a pre ACC injury I had no option but to get out and find work. I had previously been a carpenter so I decided to go to Christchurch Polytechnic to become an architectural draftsman. Six years later I finished my course gaining a New Zealand Certificate in Architecture. I had difficulty in gaining employment with my disability so I started up an architectural practice on my own account and have worked in my business from the late 1970s.

During the 70/80s I participated in disabled sport and gained a gold medal and three silver medals at the FESPIC Games in Australia in 1978. I also represented New Zealand at the Paraplegic Olympics in Arnhem, Holland in 1980. I got fourth, fifth and sixth in my events.

Over the years it has been extremely difficult to make ends meet without the support of ACC. The Rugby Foundation has been an immense support to me in a whole host of ways. They helped me with the alterations to our home, purchased a new car to replace our old 30 year old car, brought a new wheelchair for work and most recently I have been in hospital for seven months and the Foundation has helped me financially through a very hard period of our lives. Without this help we would have found ourselves in dire financial difficulty.

In summary, my wife and I cannot thank the Rugby Foundation enough for their help over the years and we would encourage people to give generously to their fantastic cause.

Chris passed away on 28 November 2017, after a long battle but with his loving family at his side as always.