When Peter Curzon speaks about his early childhood, his eyes light up.
Born in 1960 and growing up in the old Cromwell town, the young Peter spent his time enjoying the country air of Central Otago, swimming in the river or using his Winchester potato gun to shoot apples off trees.
In an album of his family at a country fete, he points out a photograph of himself gathered with his siblings, a small boy peeping out from the faded black and white image.
The troubles for Mr Curzon began when he was about 7 and his family moved to Dunedin.
Unhappy at school and missing the country life, he would act up.
Coping with intellectual challenges, Mr Curzon recalled being hit with a ruler or a strap on his knuckles if he did not do his homework properly.
"The only thing I wanted to do was go back to the country."
Beatings and canings by his schoolteacher only increased his unhappiness, and he would run away, sometimes being brought back by police.
This led to him being referred to a psychiatrist, and soon he found himself in unit nine at Wakari Hospital.
"And then my parents lost custody of me.
"I went into state care from 1969."
In August 1970, when he was 10, he was given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
On August 7 he was given two sessions of ECT on the same day, and a further session of ECT the following day.
Two days after that on August 10 he was given another ECT session, and again on August 14.
He was also treated with anti-psychotic drugs.
After his time at Wakari Hospital, he was admitted to Cherry Farm, the former psychiatric hospital at Hawksbury.
His room was in villa nine, a lockup centre, where violent people with major disabilities went, he said.
He was behind locked "big solid doors"and food was pushed to him through a little slot.
"I was the youngest person in villa nine."
Mr Curzon was then sent to Christchurch’s McKenzie Residential School.
"It was out in the country, just out of Christchurch, and I loved it, because we could have animals, we had orchards, we had trees to climb.
He spent a happy year at the school but was then sent back to Dunedin, and experienced more difficulties while attending intermediate school.
"I just wanted to go back to Christchurch."
"There used to be a bike shop in George St, and the chap didn’t have a till, he just had a drawer with no bell on it.
"I made sure there was no-one in the shop and he was out the back fixing a bike and I came round, opened the drawer, grabbed the cash and went down to the train station.
"I got picked up by the police in Christchurch."
Mr Curzon was then sent to Campbell Park School for boys in North Otago, a type of boot camp where he experienced punishments such as being forced to eat everything on his plate even if he did not like the food.
"If you didn’t eat it, you were forced to eat it.
Mr Curzon described being taken to the "boot room".
"The housemasters used to get a pair of hard boots and whack you with the boots, or use a broomstick."
Mr Curzon said he was sexually abused while he was at Campbell Park, when he was 14.
This came to light when he was later staying with his parents and his mother, pulling the sheets off his bed, questioned why the sheets were wet.
He was checked by a doctor who said there had been sexual abuse.
"So he told my father, and my father wanted to kill somebody, and that’s when he found out that I was sexually abused.
"That’s the reason why I get claustrophobia with men, because I can’t trust them.
"I did an anger management course, but we were trying to do a group hug, and I couldn’t do it".
Mr Curzon said there were other instances of sexual abuse during his time in state care.
As an adult Mr Curzon believes his experiences as a youth continue to have an impact.
He has had some brushes with the law, and finds it difficult to make friends.
Two years ago he had a stroke, and when he was referred to Wakari Hospital for rehabilitation, memories of his childhood experience flooded back.
"When I went in I froze.
"I said, that’s ward nine... that room there with the bars on it, that’s where they had shock treatment."
Mr Curzon said he wanted to share his story to highlight the long-term affects of abuse in state care.
In particular he is concerned about the government’s recent focus on sending boys to boot camps.
Where to get help in NZ
Suicide/depression-related
Healthline 0800 611 116
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Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 82 88 65 (0508 TAUTOKO)
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Sexual harm helpline: 0800 044 334, or text 4334
