The MP for Waikato, National's Tim van de Molen thought he wouldn’t walk again after falling from scaffolding at his in-laws' house.
He broke his arms and fractured his spine and ribs in the fall.
He spoke to 1News to talk about his injuries and when he’ll be back at Parliament.
"The bones ended up protruding from my arm unfortunately, here’s the graphic bit, sticking into the ground with the dirt and the sawdust with the tissue exposed and peeled back a bit as well."
He was chain-sawing some branches after a storm in February and a bad bounce took out the platform he was standing on.
Tim van de Molen suffered serious injuries after falling from scaffolding at his in-laws’ house. (Source: 1News)
"I knew right from the start that it was an horrific injury," he said.
"I could hardly breathe because of the broken spine so my first thought was 'am I ever going to walk again? Am I going to play soccer with my son or run around throwing a ball with my daughter?'”
He’s been on leave from Parliament but has been doing speeches via Zoom from his Hamilton home. He hopes to be back in the debating chamber next month.
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