Last Christmas I asked my niece if I could see the Maori jewellery box my father gave to my mother just after the war.

This box is a very special box made by a wonderful Maori guy called Pat, who inspired me so much as a young boy.

I don’t know where Pat came from or what his family name was, but he was what I would call a very able disabled guy. Going by what I can remember, one side of his body was badly twisted.

One leg was deformed inward so the toes were pointing to the heel of his good leg and his hand was badly twisted inward at the wrist as well.

He walked with the aid of a kind of crutch, which he made himself –like a broom handle with a crutch top. He held the crutch under his twisted arm with his hand around the stick and stepped forward with his good leg and dragged the other leg,

He could get around very well this way while he used his good arm and hand to do his job as a furnisher factory cleaner, tea maker and watchman. Pat was also very deaf but that did not stop him either.

As I looked at that box I saw how perfect it was made and carved. He did some of the carving with his good hand but when he came to the deeper work, he held the chisel against his body with his twisted wrist and tapped it with a wooden club with his good hand.

Pat had a wonderful smile and he loved a good beer with the boys from the factory. When he came to our place, he would sit in a big chair by the piano and listen to the music by holding his hand on the piano.

As I was a 9 year old coming to grips with my own disability, Pat really inspired me.