Matt and Kerryn Hoani were planning to get married in 2013 when a motorbike accident left Matt a quadriplegic and put their dream day on pause. Eleven years later, he finally got to pop the question at Eden Park.

They’ve been together for 26 years and finally got to tie the knot on April 2. For Matt and Kerryn Hoani, it’s been a long time coming.

It took “12 years and third time lucky” for their wedding day to take place, Matt tells the Herald.

In 2013, the couple were living on the Gold Coast with their daughters. Matt, now 44, was a truck driver; Kerryn, 43, an insurance broker.

But in May that year, Matt was in a motorbike accident that left him a quadriplegic from a spinal cord injury, facing a long recovery and rehabilitation.

“So 2013 was the original [year] we were going to get married, but then I had a motorbike accident - so it was on hold,” he says.

“[Then] we decided we were going to get married on my 40th - tell everyone to turn up and then we’ll get to celebraten, but that was Covid, 2020, and we went into lockdown.”

The following year, they hoped to tie the knot while celebrating Kerryn’s 40th - but Auckland then went into further Covid-19 restrictions, with limits on gatherings.

It was thanks to several “amazing people” that Matt got to propose to Kerryn once again in May last year.

“My old boss mentioned it to one of the wheelchair suppliers [Permobil NZ]. I’d said, ‘Oh, she doesn’t want to marry me until I propose again.’ So they helped me plan a whole wedding proposal at Eden Park.

“It was mean, we got to go down the field, had our names on the billboard and a ring company, Diamonds on Richmond, came on board and donated a ring for us.”

With their daughters beside them on the turf, Matt and Kerryn got to share their first standing hug in more than a decade.

“I said yes,” Kerryn says with a smile.

It came after some “pretty hard” months and years for the couple after the accident.

“It was hard because we spent the first year in Australia,” Kerryn says. “I was doing all the caring, and you can’t do both. You can’t be a carer and a partner, it’s just impossible.”

The pair decided to move home to New Zealand to be closer to family and their support system.

“I could be my own person and he could work on his goals,” Kerryn says, with Matt adding: “I didn’t have to rely on her or the kids.

“I could get someone else in my family to come pick me up and go out, you know - we didn’t have to do everything together.”

Now, they believe it “totally” strengthened their relationship.

“That was a wild roller-coaster ride, that one - lots of emotions,” Karen says.

Matt reflects: “Now we’re looking back on it, it’s like, man - I just didn’t realise how much we were struggling until we got back here. Now working at the spinal unit, I can sort of tell them, ‘Hey, look - it does get better, but try to leave your family as family - speaking from personal experience’.”

Matt and Kerryn are parents to daughters aged 17 and 23 - “two angels”, according to Kerryn.

“It’s three of me,” she jokes.

“They were part of the bridal party, so our youngest was bridesmaid and our oldest was my groomswoman,” says Matt.

“They were part of my rehab as well. They were in my ‘why’, they were my purpose. They used to come to the spinal unit in Aussie every Friday, every weekend. I was there for nine months, so it was a huge commitment, just that alone.”

Matt and Kerryn Hoani tied the knot on April 2, 2025 at Red Beach Surf Club. Photo / Rachel Jordan, Two Little Starfish Photography

Now, he says he doesn’t know where he would be without his family.

“I know that’s kind of dark to think about, but I see people come through this unit just by themselves and I sort of wonder how would I be able to do that?

“I truly don’t think I could.”

Drawing on his experience, Matt now works with Spinal Support NZ, based in the Auckland Spinal Rehab Unit at Ōtara, to help others who have had spinal cord injuries.

The couple are grateful to Spinal Support NZ as well as wheelchair supplier Permobil, which lent Matt a standing chair for the proposal and the wedding.

“It’s a power chair that I’m strapped to and I can stand in it, so I could look her in the eyes and propose to her. They lent it to me for that and the wedding, and that made the world of difference,” he says.

Asked how it feels to be married, Kerryn, 43, says it’s “the same, really - except I can say ‘my husband’ instead of ‘my boyfriend’.”

Matt agrees, proudly stating, “‘My wife’ instead of ‘my partner’.

“Our girls have been asking since they were young, ‘Why hasn’t Mum got the same last name?’”

The best part of their wedding day was being surrounded by friends and family, with their photos taken by Rachel Jordan of Two Little Starfish, who also spent time in Auckland’s spinal unit after a 2022 helicopter crash.

“There have been so many people that helped us,” Matt says. “Our sister-in-law was amazing, Kerryn’s sister. She missed her calling as a wedding planner.

“It was such a cool day, even though it was rainy, it was a wet day. We were meant to have it outside. We ended up having it inside.”

Matt and Kerryn come from “two big families”, but could have only 100 guests at the Red Beach Surf Club.

“It was hard not inviting them all,” he admits.

After 26 years together, what’s their advice for a lasting relationship?

“Do what you’re told,” Matt jokes.

“What did my dad always say? Never go to bed angry.

“When we sent out our invites, we asked [guests] for the best advice. They were the sorts of things we did anyway. It was cool reiterating. We are pretty much on the right path at the moment, even though it doesn’t look like it some days.”

Kerryn’s advice? “Marry your best friend.”

Her husband agrees. “She knows what I’m thinking. She would see me look at something and she would roll her eyes. We like the same things.”