A Pāpāmoa woman who crashed head-on into an oncoming motorhome at 100km/h in torrential rain more than three years ago says her life changed in an instant.

The 28-year-old, who is still recovering from a Traumatic Brain Injury, talked to the Weekend Sun after journalist Georgia Minkhorst discovered her cards for sale at a local café.

Nina Lopes said Cyclone Gabrielle had struck New Zealand with severe wind and rain on February 12, 2023, when she was driving State Highway 29 that afternoon in Lower Kaimai.

Lopes said she was trying to avoid a pool of water on the road near the Ruahihi Power Station when the accident happened, weeks after her 25th birthday.

“I crossed the centre line into oncoming traffic and crashed headfirst into a motorhome – each of us going 100 kilometres an hour – and then my life changed forever.”

Fortunately, a man present at the crash was a paramedic, Lopes said. “The first responder is an angel and saved my life because while he waited with me for the ambulance to arrive, he restarted my heart three times.

“Thankfully, I was the only one injured because it would be so hard to live with yourself and knowing you were responsible for taking someone’s life.”

Recovery beginnings

Lopes was transferred to Waikato Hospital and a CT scan revealed she had a severe brain injury and her pelvis was fractured in four places.

“They [doctors] were like, ‘S*** ... let’s get this girl down’.” She was put into a medically induced coma and had two operations; one to remove a bleed on her brain, another to repair her pelvis.

After nearly two months in hospital, Lopes was transferred to the Auckland Brain Institute (ABI).

She compared waking up at ABI to the Jim Carrey film The Truman Show. “I was really shocked. I asked my speech and language therapist if I could see something official like a hospital or police report ... I’d just woken up in what felt like this retirement home, I had half my head shaved, then people I recognised, like my loved ones, told me I’d had a car crash.”

Lopes said coming out of a coma is not like what’s portrayed in movies, where people suddenly sit up and talk. “They call it like an emerging blooming consciousness. I was whispering for a couple of days, squeezing and could do a gentle response.”

At ABI, Lopes slowly relearnt to talk and walk. As a highly active person beforehand, she said walking again was “pretty automatic”.

“I was already moving my legs quite a lot in my coma. I did a yoga teaching qualification so I’m really into my physical fitness ... it’s like my hardwiring moving.”

Headstrong

Before the crash, Lopes described herself as extroverted, conscientious and studious.

She was a former Mount Maunganui College deputy head girl and a lover of sewing with a “passion for fashion”, a “hospo” queen, highly independent and an avid traveller.

“I went to Mexico solo. I’ve been to America twice solo. Then after my crash for the first year at least, I had a 24/7 support person from ACC with me.”

From her brain injury, Lopes has intentional ataxia on the left side of her body, which causes shakiness. “It’s like Parkinson’s ... I’ve lost the fine motor skills in my left hand so sewing is more challenging now,” she said.

“I worked in hospo before, now, with intentional ataxia, that’s a door closed for me.”

Yet Lopes said she was making incredible strides in her recovery. “If I wasn’t so headstrong, I don’t know if I’d still be sitting here.”

Cards, volunteering

From her accident, creativity sprung. Lopes combined her love of making things, and her eco-consciousness, into creating unique handcrafted cards.

With talking nonsense her “mother tongue”, she began Nina’s Non-Cents’ Card Co at the end of 2025. “It was born out of waking up really early. Sleeping and a brain injury don’t go together,” Lopes said.

In the early hours she makes cards using anything from magazine cuttings, old library books, travel photos she’s taken and even earring packaging. “I will use a resource that’s already in the waste train rather than buying brand new.”

She sells her cards at Arataki’s Special Mention Café and Mount Maunganui’s Good Room skateboard shop.

Nina had also developed a volunteering spirit. She assists the sandwich chef at Tauranga City’s Breadhead, is a teacher aide at Mount Maunganui College and has begun fashion merchandising at Waipuna Hospice shops.

“I was quite a workaholic before, and I’ve always expressed to my therapist that I’m keen to get back to work ... but it’s one day at a time as the brain doesn’t heal in one night.”

Sleep challenges caused by her injury mean rest is a necessity for Lopes’ ongoing recovery. “I’m still under rehab ... I nap every day after lunch, especially resting my eyes ... it’s pretty much vital.”

Ubuntu

Lopes said a big thing she’d learnt from her experience is the African proverb ‘Ubuntu’ – which translates to, “I am because we are”.

She’s been surrounded by care from family, friends and medical professionals since her accident. “I’ve got amazing support,” Lopes said. “My Mum is like an amazing angel ... it’s made me more grateful for family.

“It’s also made me realise how incredibly lucky and grateful we are to have such advanced healthcare [in New Zealand]. In some countries, if this had happened,

I probably would’ve died, and I could’ve died here even.”

Lopes is now focused on her future ambitions. “My current goals are to regain my driver’s licence and share my journey in a book in the hopes to raise awareness and hopefully inspire folks with my recovery.”

To support her on her recovery journey, visit: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/nina-lopes-recovery or grab a Nina’s Non-Cents card.