I am a great believer in the empowerment of peer support within the disability community.  I have learnt an amazing amount from other people with a disability and have been inspired and challenged by other people with the lived experience of disability.

I acquired my disability on Boxing Day, 1976 following a car accident in the south-east of South Australia just outside of Mount Gambier. At that time, I was working as a third-year apprentice fitter and turner at panel board, a particleboard manufacturing company and had just finished another 10-hour shift as we were doing maintenance on the production line.  After work, I had travelled out to a farm approximately 5 km out of Mount Gambier for a barbecue.

However, knowing that I had to be up early for another long day of work, I was one of the first to leave at around 9:30 PM. As I drove back into Mount Gambier, I approached the last little hill and bend, probably a bit too fast and as I got to the crest of the hill, there was a car coming the other way so I was forced to move to the edge of the narrow country road and got onto loose gravel and my car started to slide. As I tried to correct the car, I sideswiped the car coming the other way and my car went over on its side and the suitcase on the back seat banged into my neck at the cervical 5-6 level.

In an instance, my life changed – I was a quadriplegic and was unable to move my arms or legs.

As regularly happens in country areas, the first responders – ambulance officers were my brother-in-law, Des and his father, Albert. I was taken directly to the Mount Gambier hospital and my brother-in-law and my sister, Christine had the job of going to my parents’ beach-house at Carpenter Rocks to let them know that I’d been involved in a serious accident.

When they were taken to the Mount Gambier hospital, they were met by an orthopaedic surgeon who said “your son is a quadriplegic, he is the worst I have ever seen and he will never be able to do anything for himself or anyone else for the rest of his life, if he survives!’

Two weeks after the accident, I received a telegram from the Executive Director of the company I worked for, simply stating that they were thinking of me and “I want you to know that if you can do anything after your rehabilitation, we want you back here working for us”.

This helped me to think more about what I might be able to do and to shape my rehabilitation to get the most out of my paralysed body. I later learnt that my old boss, Ken Jones, had been in a serious accident at a similar age and went through significant rehabilitation recovering from head injuries. This was one of the first of peer support that I received and there were many others that have assisted me to get the most out of life.

My first trial of moving home

Leading up to Easter in 1977, the rehab team suggested that I should try to get home for a few days over the Easter break and there was discussion with my mum and dad about what that would mean in terms of personal support, equipment and any house modifications that I would need to provide wheelchair access.

The spinal injuries rehabilitation unit contacted the Mount Gambier hospital social worker and OT and asked them to visit Mum and Dad’s house to assess what would be needed. Following a cup of tea and biscuits, the OT suggested that she have a look around the house from the entry point at the rear of the house and into the kitchen/dining area and through to my bedroom.  She also had a look at the access into the bathroom and provisions within the bathroom and toilet areas.  As she did this house assessment, she took notes and then returned to the dining table.  Her assessment was that they would have to have significant carpentry work done to widen the doors throughout the house, to enable wheelchair access, have concrete ramps built at the rear and front of the house and have an accessible bathroom built at the rear of the house.

When she finished speaking, Dad asked her how wide my wheelchair was?  She replied that she didn’t actually know!  He then asked, how wide is a standard wheelchair and her reply was that she wasn’t actually quite sure and would have to get back to them on that.  According to Mum and Dad at that time, they were quite anxious about all the modifications that were going to be required to enable me to live with them and how they would pay for the required work.

The following weekend, Graham Walker, who was a quadriplegic living in Mount Gambier, and who was also a builder (he had a building license and designed houses), visited Mum and Dad with his mother. He brought a portable ramp to get into and around the house and his assessment was quite different. None of the doors needed widening, he could make some extensions for the door handles so I would be able to use them from my wheelchair. He could also get some temporary timber ramps made and the laundry area near a ‘sleep-out’ that could be easily converted to an accessible bathroom that complied with building standards of the time.

My parents were very much relieved after this visit from Graham, not just for his advice but to meet a very competent man who had been living with quadriplegia for several years, but who had been successfully getting on with his life.  He worked full-time and drove his car with hand controls, and he was very involved in the local Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Association of Mount Gambier.  Graham’s Mum was also very reassuring to my Mum about getting on with life, being able to provide the personal support that I would need, and that she would always be available to talk through any issues.

This was another great example of peer and lived experience support that made a real difference in coming to terms with living with a significant disability. Over the past 48 years, I have experienced many other examples of Peer Support, and I am sure that other members at Enhanced Lifestyles have got similar examples, which I would love to hear about, and could empower other people with a disability and/or their families.

Storytelling and sharing experiences that can be handed down to others to learn from can provide great insight, encouragement and empower others to have a go.

Please consider some of your experiences and ideas or solutions to overcoming barriers and communicate these back to Enhanced Lifestyles or myself.

Contact Enhanced Lifestyles or Maurice on 8340 2000 or hello@el.org.au