SHORTY STAR BEN'A CONCUSSION SAVED MY LIFE'

Why the actor and his mum are grateful for his freak accident

- India Lopez

Every Mother's Day, Kiwi actor Ben Porter and his mum Louise find more and more to be grateful about. For Ben, it's a classic case of slowly realising how much his mum did for him back when he was an oblivious youngster.

For Louise, the gratitude goes deeper than that- she'll never forget how close she came to losing her precious son.

When Ben was 15, he had a freak accident that seemed disastrous at first but ended up saving his life.

"Ben was doing a speed test in PE at his college," Louise, 57, recalls. "He tripped and went straight into the wall, which knocked him out and gave him a concussion." Ben, 22, adds, "It was a brick wall and I was sprinting, so it was pretty serious." Ben started experiencing

frequent migraines and blackouts. Up until then, he had kept Louise, a relief teacher, and dad Murray, who worked in aviation, busy trucking him between dance practice, football and school activities. Now they were back and forth to the hospital, seeking reassurance that these crippling symptoms would go away.

Looking back, Ben is in awe of his mum's strength.

"I was quite an anxious kid.

My emotion would come down to what Mum was feeling. If she had seemed worried, I would definitely have been worried.