March 2014: Even the fact that she and her husband are on the sickness benefit didn’t stop her once she began planning.

“My Whānau Ora plan motivated me to really get committed, it helped me realise I could do this. My plan became a visual way of seeing the steps I needed to take to reach my goals”, says Nadine enthusiastically.

Nadine, mother of two, has been a professional dog trainer for many years and came to know that children and their parents often didn’t understand what the body language of dogs was telling them. This misunderstanding has led to serious attacks and in the saddest cases even death.

Nadine wanted to ensure that tamariki and whānau were kept safe and to better understand how to deal with dogs she developed a resource that can be used both in homes and schools to help keep kids safe.

Since 2008 Nadine has had significant weakness on the right side of her body. She has also been her husband’s primary caregiver since 2011 after surgery to his back.

“Because of the challenges we’ve faced, I’ve become so much more aware aware of how precious life is. I don’t know how long I’ve got, so it’s important that I leave something for my children that they can be proud of” says Nadine softly.

• The book is now available online.