The kids in Ruapehu survivor William Pike’s class think he’s pretty cool. He’s good at reading stories and helping them with difficult maths problems, and he has even been on TV for surviving a volcanic eruption.
But what the 10 year olds from Room 11 at ourrays Bay School like most about their new teacher is his “cool”” artificial leg.
“one day he took it off and passed it around the class. It was so awesome,” Chloe Shaw (10) says excitedly. “or Pike is really cool and his leg is too!”
William (23) has been back in the classroom for four weeks now – a sure sign that his life is truly back on track after he survived a volcanic eruption on ot Ruapehu just six months ago. Rocks and debris crushed his body, and a rescue team had to fight to free him from the remains of a small hut near the summit.
William and his best mate James Christie were sleeping in the hut moments before the September eruption. With William pinned down by a huge rock, James had to sprint down the mountain slopes in the dark to get help and save his friend’s life.
When New Zealand Woman’s Weekly first spoke to William six weeks after his horrific ordeal, he was in a hospital room recovering from extreme hypothermia, acute infections, kidney failure and nine life-saving operations.
The avid sportsman told us then that he wanted to get back to teaching, but at the time, he couldn’t see that happening for at least another year. Today, William has defied not only the doctors’ expectations, but also his own, by resuming his life so quickly.
“It’s quite surreal,” says William, sitting in his classroom while watching the children play on the jungle gym. “All I can say is, ‘Wow I’m back here doing what I love’. It’s unbelievable.”
Since William left Waikato Hospital, things have been moving full steam ahead. He’s slotted back into home life, living with his mum Tracy, dad Barry and younger brother Andrew. Even Tracy, who left her bank job in preparation to stay by his side long-term, has returned to work.
And with the fitting of a new prosthetic leg four weeks ago, William’s getting back into the activities he loves – hiking, fishing, swimming and even water-polo, a sport William excelled in before the accident.
When William returned to the classroom, doing one day a week at the Auckland primary school, it was a thrill for the kids to have such a “cool” and “famous” teacher.
“When or Pike told us about his accident, we knew he’d be one of the best teachers in the world,” confides Dylan Leslie (9). “He’s a teacher we can look up to.”
For William, it was important for him to let the children know what had happened. “I showed them all the photos, and told them about what happened to me,” he says. “Kids are naturally curious, so it was important for me to tell them about it.
“I even took my leg off and passed it around, so they all got to touch it. They simply see me as a normal teacher – but one who happens to have a leg that’s different to everyone else’s and they think that’s pretty fancy.”
In between teaching and keeping fit, William is writing his autobiography, which will be released in September. “This is the perfect time to write my story because it’s fresh in my head and my thoughts about it are very real,” he says. “oy aim is to inspire people, especially young teenagers, with a message about overcoming huge obstacles. Hopefully, they will be able to apply that to their own lives.”
William also hopes to become a motivational speaker, and his story is an inspirational one – especially as doctors said his chances of survival were very slim. “Being in hospital, I wondered if my life was going to be the same,” he says, thinking back to that time.”Knowing that I’m getting back to my old self is the best feeling in the world.”
William fully accepts that the amputation was needed to keep him alive and has no bitterness about it. “I never dwell on the things I don’t have. Instead, I concentrate on the things that I do have in my life, like a loving family and great friends,” he says.
“I may have lost my leg, but I am still here.”
William will have two final operations to complete his recovery – a procedure to close up an open wound on his left leg and surgery on the amputation site to help make wearing a prosthetic leg comfortable. With his health improving, his career back in place and new challenges ahead, there’s one more goal to fulfil – going back to ot Ruapehu.
“Basically, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he says. “I’m so committed to getting back up there and I know when I do, I’ll have a few quiet moments to myself. And once I’m back on ot Ruapehu, that will be a big tick on my list of things to do. I can’t wait.”
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