Obituaries

VIP Obituaries

Muir Campbell Templeton

20 July 1956 – 31 March 2021

Muir was injured 16 March 1975 playing for Tawa Rugby Football Club. He was 19 at the time. His brother John explained, “Muir’s first full time job was with Dalgety, at Wellington HQ in the Accounts department. He contacted Dalgety’s about returning to work and they were very supportive. This is what set Muir apart. He simply got on with his life. Initially it was two days a week, with his mum driving him in the morning, and returning in the afternoon to pick him up. ACC were approached, and a team of three taxi drivers took turns to drive Muir to work and home. Dalgety’s moved to a new building on Lambton Quay, and once his car was adapted, he used to drive himself. He continued to forge his career and eventually retired from BUPA as second in command nationally in payroll. Muir had a great group of friends that also used to get him out to parties, and down to the rugby club. At the rugby club he was the only one allowed to watch from inside, and he would then go and collect the subs as people filed in. He was also active in the Paraplegic Community through the Wellington Paraplegic Assn, competing in various athletic sports, such as, shot put, discuss, javelin, club, 50 and 100 metre dash. He regularly returned home with several medals. This ended when he had a tendon transplant from his lower leg, grafted into his back and upper arms giving him more mobility.” Bob Symons, a fellow VIP says, “I was in Burwood, it was year-end 1986, undergoing arm surgeries/ tendons transfers when I met Muir for the first time. He opened my eyes significantly; a view to my future – of what was possible. He told me I worried too much. He was an incredible listener and would throw in a light barbed comment that would challenge me. Come on – you’ve never going to win if you don’t get in the game.” Bob says, “I got to know Muir in June 1990. It was to a Parafed wheelchair rugby event. I was at BP as an IT graduate. He stood for everything I aspired to be professionally. Working successfully in the corporate world. He created the template of where I could go and the showed me the courage to make it possible. He was a huge role model to others, without even knowing it. He just got on and did It. Always dressed properly, suit and trousers, styled and groomed – glasses were always clean, mine always had finger marks everywhere! Beautifully manicured. A true gentleman with his ever-cheery smile. He represented stability – his humour, highly principled, an advocate for justice. Over the years we socialised sometimes frequently, sometimes not. He was one of the Wellington gang with Pete, Phil Rangi, Neil, Don, Phil Spring, Staffy, Selwyn, Mike and Catherine – Muir was always ‘best presented’ player.”

Some notes from some of the guys:

Such sad news. Although I only knew him through the foundation I felt like I had known him for much longer with his magnetic personality. Fly high Muir with your pure golden wings. You are beaming with health now. Condolences to Muirs family. Please pass on my sincere condolences. A good innings but the end of this life is inescapable and must come to us all. It’s what you do with your life that matters, not the longevity of it and Muir’s life was full of life.

Pete O’Flaherty

2 June 1950 – 5 November 2021

Pete was injured on 30 September 1973 playing for Massey University RFC. He was 23 at the time. Back when 24-year-old Peter O’Flaherty was still getting used to being paralysed from the neck down, some mates put his name down for a job with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Peter scoffed at them. “I told them they were bloody stupid; that no one would want to employ me.” He was wrong. Thirty-six years later, Peter O’Flaherty retired from a full working life – an example of someone who has not let disadvantage get in the way, and an inspiration to the disengaged teenagers and unemployed people he worked with during the last seven years of his working life.

For the final years of his employment Peter was involved with agriculture training programmes targeting 16 and 17-year-olds and the long-term unemployed. Many come from disadvantaged backgrounds and faced long-term benefit dependence. Work and Income programme coordinator Erima Mitchell worked with Peter. “Peter always said that if he could work in a wheelchair then anyone could work”, she said. “How can you argue with that? Any excuses the trainees came up with as to why they couldn’t work, just didn’t compare.” Back in 1973, Rotorua-born Peter was 23 and into the fourth year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at Massey University in Palmerston North. He was one of the lads, enjoying study and student life. Peter was playing rugby when the scrum collapsed and he took the force. He suffered a C4/C5 spinal fracture and life changed forever. Peter was paralysed from the neck down. There was no ACC back then. Peter was determined not to rely on his family for the rest of his life. “Friends, family, the faculty ... they all said there was no reason why I couldn’t go back to university. Then they set about making it possible”. After four and a half months of treatment and rehabilitation, Peter returned to Massey three days a week. Lectures were moved to the ground floor. Lecturers taped lectures and classmates carboncopied their notes. Part-way through 1974 Peter’s classmates told him they had put his name down for work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF). With little use of his arms, he typed with a mouth stick. Peter began work with the MAF in December 1974 and on his first day his office colleagues asked if he could dial a phone… these were the days of no push button phones, no cell phones, no voice operated equipment. Two cotton reels, string and a wire coat hanger helped adapt a phone for Peter’s use. The headset was connected to a length of alkathene pipe to sit at the height of Peter’s ear and a dictaphone was modified with a series of levers. Peter’s job as a farm advisory officer also took him into the field, and when he was appointed MAF Policy Agent he began to travel extensively throughout the regions. “As with my office mates, farmers approached the challenge of getting me places with the same level of creativity”, he laughs. “My theory is that nowhere is impossible – some destinations just take more planning than others.” After working for 36 years, Peter O’Flaherty retired – and he loved it. Apart from the odd hiccup, he was the healthiest he’s been in years. He took an active interest in his community as a member of the Rotorua Access committee, Lakes Health Disability Support Advisory Committee and the Rotary Club of Rotorua Lakes. Technology had advanced to the stage where Peter could live independently in his own home. With 57 care hours funded by Ministry of Health for personal care, meal preparation, shopping and community involvement, Peter was very independent. Peter and the NZ Rugby Foundation first connected in 2003 Adapted from an article first published in Work and Income Magazine.

Some notes from some of the guys:

“Pete was the most courageous and inspirational guy I ever had the pleasure of meeting. More than once he showed me how to overcome the odds and carry on. The world has truly lost a very special person.” “He was really the Prow of the boat for so many of us. Talking about Role Models so often is a frivolous throw away, dragged out when someone that is famous because they can throw a ball, or do great synchronised swimming - drinks too much, or signs a few auto-graphs, or pops into a school for a nice chat. “Peter was the epitome of role model – 24 hours a day, every day; his example was a foundational cornerstone of what I see Spinal rehab, vocational rehab – was about achieving. “ “He showed you could get on with life, contribute, earn, and grab normality after a traumatic injury. He did it without the safety nets, and remained one of the nicest guys.” “Pete made steps I could follow – I went to Massey in 1985 after my 1984 injury. It was horrible for chairs – but O’Flaherty had done it and having met him and Jim Campbell (in the unit for some reason 1984), hearing how they got on within the able-body world, with what I thought was so little movement – gave me the push I needed. It expands my horizons. He taught me Tū whitia te hopo!”