Nine Months of Denials—She’s Still Waiting for the Procedure That Could Change Everything

She is in both emotional and physical pain, and she withdraws into her apartment.

For the past 19 years, Brittany Kremers has lived through constant upheaval, growing accustomed to hearing the word “no” and watching her hopes repeatedly fall apart.

Behind closed doors, she tries to hide a twisted jaw and misaligned teeth while she waits for a change from a government agency she says is standing in the way of a normal life. In a world that prizes appearance, she feels marked by disfigurement.

By now, Kremers believes she should have already had surgery. It feels only fair that she be freed from the pain that drags her down. Instead, she continues to drip water into her mouth using a 60-milliliter syringe. Eating is nearly impossible. Liquid protein meals—an unpleasant routine—bring no comfort.

This is not a life.

Kremers was diagnosed at eight years old with a severe cancer called alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. She underwent a year of chemotherapy and radiation, and in October 2007 she was declared cancer-free. But just six months later, doctors found the tumor had returned aggressively.

When the family was told there was nothing left to do except keep her comfortable with morphine, her mother, Dawn, fought back.

Even though her daughter appeared healthy, Dawn refused to accept that she was going to die. In time, she located an “amazing consultant” in Lower Hutt who agreed to remove the tumor.

Surgeons removed part of the base of Kremers’ skull and her entire jaw, replacing it with a flap of muscle taken from her stomach.

After years of surgeries, Kremers eventually lost both her hearing and her sight on the right side.

She also had to endure a conspicuous external metal distraction device attached to her face. To stretch the tissue and pull parts of her face closer toward the center, she had to tighten it with a screwdriver. Still, Kremers believed the suffering would be worth it, because she was told that once the device was removed, she would finally receive a prosthetic jaw—something that would dramatically change how she looked.

Kremers felt elated when she met with the Canterbury District Health Board on December 2, 2021. She expected to be given the date she would receive her prosthesis, but instead she was told there was no funding available for the procedure.

After a family friend set up a Givealittle page, she was devastated and feared she would never have the chance to have a normal face. Stuff later published her story.

Donations began arriving at a staggering rate, overwhelming the family, who struggled to comprehend the wave of love and support.

But despite the remarkable $282,000 donated by generous New Zealanders—and the hopeful plan to restore Kremers’ facial features with a prosthesis—an Auckland specialist delivered crushing news. Because she would require costly follow-up care for the rest of her life, she would need support from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

The money raised would cover the initial preparatory surgery and the major procedure, but it would not be enough to sustain long-term care.

So in May 2022, she filed a treatment injury claim with ACC and waited.

Nine months passed before ACC rejected the claim. Dawn Kremers said the decision was based on the view that the deformity was caused by cancer, not by the treatment.

Amanda Malu, ACC’s deputy chief executive for service delivery, said the medical evidence in this case found that Brittany’s injuries were either necessary to treat her recurring tumor or were a typical outcome of treatment for the disease.

Because Brittany’s injuries did not meet the criteria for a treatment injury, Malu said ACC was unable to accept the claim and therefore declined it.

Malu added that treatment injury claims can be complex and often take longer to resolve.

She said ACC had since received new medical evidence about Brittany’s treatment, and had asked two doctors—both the original expert adviser and another specialist—to assess the claim.

However, Malu could not give a specific date for when ACC would reach a decision.

She said ACC was working as hard as possible to reach an outcome as quickly as it could.

Even though Kremers’ consultant has resubmitted the claim, the chance to begin her facial surgery has been delayed because doctors do not want to start a process that cannot be finished.

It also means the pain she endured from the metal distraction device—used to move parts of her face toward the center—has been for nothing, as the shifted sections have drifted back to where they were, causing intense pain.

To her, it is becoming increasingly clear that progress may never come.

Over the past year, she has also been grieving the sudden death of her grandmother, who died in September of the previous year. Always Kremers’ biggest supporter, her grandmother had been a lifeline whenever times were hard.

Now, as she waits for ACC to reassess the claim, Kremers is losing hope, fearful it could take another year—only to be turned down again.

Dawn Kremers says she is watching her daughter’s health decline.

“She is really unmotivated. My mother’s birthday anniversary is coming up, and we were going to have lunch together, but I’m sure she’ll call and tell me she can’t make it.”

Dawn says she is grateful her daughter is back in Greymouth after spending time in Christchurch, because it allows her to keep a close eye on her. But she also knows she cannot help until ACC gives the claim the go-ahead.

“To be let down for such a long time…” she said, acknowledging it makes her angry. “It’s just waiting. Brittany’s mental health is not in a good place right now.”