The Ngāti Maniapoto man contracted Covid-19 earlier this month, being hospitalised at Waikato Hospital. Having the virus felt "suffocating", as if he had a tonne of bricks on his chest. He called an ambulance and was taken to hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19 and received HDU care. Halligan's whānau – including his partner and children – were his motivation to fight the virus in hospital. I'm a bloody big strong man and here's me broken down, can't even breathe, trying to survive for my whānau."

Source: New Zealand Herald December 23, 2021 17:34 UTC