Inspiring Client Success Story from the Active for Life Green Prescription programme
Dora Coffman was told a year ago by a surgeon “you probably won’t be able to walk very far ever again” due to a back injury and chronic back pain.
But at the weekend the 69-year-old grandma was among 5300 people who conquered the Shore to Shore 5.9km event on Auckland’s North Shore run by Harbour Sport Auckland.
She did the event with three of her nine grandchildren: George, 10, Lucas, 9, and Ryan, 7.
“I was glad to be fit enough to walk where my young girl feet had once walked,” Coffman said.
The event saw people of all ages running or walking from Takapuna Grammar School through to Milford Reserve, raising about $20,000 for sports equipment for schools locally on the North Shore.
So how did this grandmother manage her back injury and pain so she can vibrantly live life again?
She credits Harbour Sport’s ‘Active for Life’ green prescription programme. She can now walk well again after injuring her back in an accident in which she fell on a bus in 2022.
She had previously been told by a surgeon that she probably would not be able to walk very far ever again and also to “never walk hills again”, which was tough given she lives on a hill in Torbay, Auckland.
But after being on the green prescription programme for a year, the 69-year-old grandma is now walking regularly up to 6km daily joyfully and a regular on the fitness app Strava – sometimes clocking up to 50km of walking in a month.
Harbour Sport’s Active for Life programme helps 5000 people annually to become more physically active and receive expert education and support on how to better manage long term health conditions. The green prescription programme is also nationwide through different providers. Clients are referred via GPs.
Dora’s husband Gary, also aged 69, also went on the same green prescription programme over chronic back issues and he too is now living life with more ease “and able to do things again”, he said.
An expert helped the Coffmans to access facilities where they could do specific exercises in the heat of a pool and sauna, or in a gym, which relieves their back pain and symptoms so they can move more freely and be more active.
“We can now live life more to the full,” says Dora.
“It really is the difference between enjoying life – and not.
“Pain can do terrible things to you. If you let the pain take over then you are sunk”.
The couple now embraces their exercising routine attending their local pools 2-3 times weekly and loves the community connection. They have realised the importance of actively looking after their health in a supportive environment.
“You want to keep doing as much as you can for as long as you can,” says Dora.
“The programme has made a huge difference because there were times where Gary could hardly walk too.”
Life before the programme, Dora found it difficult to sit or stand for long periods and had difficulty making the beds some days. While, Gary’s life had involved “a lot of pain medication”. He now loves to get out and about on his electric bike.
