Tauranga father Mate Glamuzina broke 10 ribs, punctured his lungs, shattered his vertebrae and lost use of his right hand after an e-scooter accident in Mount Maunganui. 

He spent more than six weeks in a coma and had to learn to drink, eat and walk again. He tells Megan Wilson about his fight for life – and his new career helping others in pain.

Mate Glamuzina had just finished a morning gym session in Pāpāmoa and was pondering what to do next.

It was October 22, 2020, and the 42-year-old remembers it being sunny. He thought about climbing Mauao or riding his recently bought e-scooter along Mount Maunganui’s waterfront.

“I chose to go on the scooter – and then I woke up about six weeks later in hospital.”

Mate tells the Bay of Plenty Times he has “no recollection” of the accident on Marine Parade.

“Just the sudden impact caused me to break 10 ribs, puncture both my lungs, break my collarbone, shatter three vertebrae and [I] severed three of the nerves from my right arm.”

Mate was taken to Tauranga Hospital and had spinal fusion surgery. He was put into an induced coma for six and a half weeks to allow his spine to fuse.

He caught a staphylococcus infection, was flown to Auckland Hospital and put on a lung bypass.

‘Homebound’ for six to eight months

Mate spent about four weeks in Auckland Hospital before starting rehabilitation at a brain rehabilitation clinic, which included physiotherapy.

He wore a neck collar for about three months.

“I could have very easily not woken up or been in a wheelchair.”

He was “homebound” for six to eight months, leaving the house only for medical appointments.

Since then, he has regained some function in his right arm “but it’s limited, and I have no use of my right hand”.

This presented “many challenges” as his right hand is his dominant hand.

He no longer wears belts, or shoes with laces. He has made adaptions around the house to “make life easier”.

“I’ve got a little sort of vice on my kitchen benchtop, which I use to hold things while I cut them.”

He bought a tricycle to take his 6-year-old daughter to school and had all the controls moved to the left handlebar.

‘No inclination’ to ride an e-scooter again

After his accident, Mate fixed his e-scooter and sold it.

“I had no inclination to get back on a scooter.”

He bought it about four months before his accident and described himself as a “quite experienced” rider.

E-scooters launched in New Zealand in October 2018.

ACC data shows 1830 new claims from e-scooter-related injuries were made between January and June 2024.

In 2023, there were 2934 new claims and in 2022 there were 2565 new claims.

Mate Glamuzina in his wife's home art studio. Photo / Megan Wilson.

Mate says his wife, Ulemj, and daughter have been “instrumental” in his recovery.

He regularly enjoys climbing Mauao barefoot.

“I have aspirations of snowboarding again one day ... but I’m not quite there yet.”

A new career ‘pain coaching’

Mate says pain in his arm has been the hardest part of his recovery. This led him to “pain coaching”.

Pre-accident, he worked in recruitment and did career coaching. Post-accident, he became a pain coach and runs his own business.

“There’s a lot of people out there with persistent or chronic pain and they don’t get relief from medication or surgery.”

Matee says pain coaching helps people understand pain and how it manifests.

He describes pain as the body’s “alarm system” to warn of danger.

“But the danger can be perceived or it can be real. When someone has experienced some kind of trauma, then their body becomes more susceptible to events that it would associate as similar and so it kind of becomes hypersensitive to sending out pain responses even though there might not be a real threat.”

For example, Mate’s right arm has become “more sensitive” to sensation because his body is trying to protect him from being injured again, he explains.

Mate Glamuzina and his wife Ulemj are planning to offer couples retreats from a caravan they have recently purchased. Photo / Megan Wilson.

Mate bought a caravan about two months ago from which he and Ulemj plan to host couples retreats.

“The intention would be to offer ... a concentrated weekend of health and wellness.”

Ulemj will offer art therapy while he will offer “general coaching”. The pair will look at bringing in other healers with different modalities, he said.

Anyone interested in pain coaching can contact Mate on mateglamuzina@yahoo.co.nz

-Bay of Plenty Times.