Often known to depict contemporary topical and ethical issues in 2013 Shortland Street producers decided to undergo a storyline that would reflect the high rates of teenage suicide in New Zealand.

During his visit Kane stayed with the Cooper family, Wendy (Jacqueline Nairn) and Murray (Matthew Chamberlain) and in the new year, agreed to be fostered by them.

He began to date Honour Aleni (Sophie McIntosh) and accepted a rugby scholarship to a prestigious private school, only to lose this and get suspended when Murray Cooper (Matthew Chamberlain) became over invested in his schoolwork and started doing it himself.

Kane and Honour broke up and after having his life saved by his best friend Toby (Robert Evison), helped him cover up the murder of Brett Franklin (Matt Dwyer).

The revelation of the murder saw Kane facing serious charges of covering the crime up which was followed by an injury to his leg, leaving him out of rugby season.

Jimmy and Murray managed to scare Ms. Herve off much to Kane's annoyance but he ultimately decided to pursue the rugby scholarship.

In 2014 Shortland Street producers were contacted by internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran to ask whether he could have a part in the show as he had seen it, and enjoyed it.

"[1] Storyliners became aware of shocking statistics of youth suicide within New Zealand and it was a topic that producer Simon Bennett "cared deeply about".

[1] With such a sensitive subject matter, storyliners consulted the Mental Health foundation routinely throughout the plot line to ensure they were correctly portraying the decline into depression and the steps of suicide.

[12] The storyline saw Kane under immense pressure after a leg injury removed him from his sporting ambitions and his best friend Jack (Reuben Milner) came out of the closet to him leading to estrangement.

[1] The storyline progressed over several months with the decline into depression slowly coming across through character development and the manner in which Apa portrayed Kane.

He even seemed to have the 'dead eyes' I associate with depression.."[13] With consideration from mental health experts, it was decided to publicly announce the storyline was to occur so as to warn viewers of the intensity of the episode.

In addition to this, higher levels of staff moderating the soap opera's social media accounts were hired to watch for distressed viewers.

[13] Shortland Street was lauded following the COVID-19 lockdown as an accurate reflection of New Zealand life, with storylines such as Kane's suicide attempt enabling difficult conversations within society.