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The Crash
A memoir
Brief Description
In 1987 Sally Wenley was the driven, fun-loving and at times naughty sports prefect of her Hawke’s Bay school with everything to live for. When a bus crashed on a school trip, five people were killed and she became a paraplegic, her sporting dreams in tatters....
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The Crash
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Facing the aftermath 40 years on
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Description
In 1987 Sally Wenley was the driven, fun-loving and at times naughty sports prefect of her Hawke’s Bay school with everything to live for. When a bus crashed on a school trip, five people were killed and she became a paraplegic, her sporting dreams in tatters.
Now an award-winning radio reporter, in this engaging, uplifting and at times hilarious memoir she looks back at the angry, defiant, risk-taking younger self who used alcohol and arrogance to mask physical pain and trauma. And, for the first time in 40 years, she also looks squarely at the accident.
As she explores what happened, and acknowledges that the bus crash also devastated other lives, she comes to understand why she was so driven to escape the confines of her wheelchair and she counts her blessings.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781991309150
Publisher: Massey University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 April 2026
Country: New Zealand
Imprint: Massey University Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 15.0mm
Width: 138.0mm
Height: 210.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 220
About the Author
Sally Wenley is an award-winning journalist. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University and a diploma in broadcast journalism. She began her journalism career at Television New Zealand in Auckland, worked for a time at a magazine for doctors and then at Radio New Zealand, where she won four journalism awards for radio reporting. Sally is now a freelance journalist for both RNZ and other publications. In her spare time she enjoys hunting and fishing and volunteers to help other newly injured people who have become wheelchair users like herself. She lives in Auckland with Bruce and her teenage daughter.
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