Thursday, March 10, 2022
Mana
I had a severe car crash that broke my pelvis, put me in a coma and gave me severe brain damage.
It was like a dream when I first woke up and like most dreams, I don’t remember it, and I don’t even remember it happening, I guess it felt like a dream.
I’m told that during the first two weeks I could only mumble/speak Maori and I would randomly wake up and freak out taking off all the wires and tubes that they had hooked up to me and fall back to sleep as if nothing had happened. To be fair though, what would you do if you randomly woke up one morning to see two steel rods in your hips, a feeding tube deep in your mouth, wires all over your body and your family holding you down telling you to “calm down” when you don’t know what is going on.
About three weeks after the accident I got transferred to a rehab centre where I got tons of therapy and while there I was diagnosed with alexithymia on top of all my physical challenges. It’s still a bit foggy in my memory but I couldn’t walk because of my broken pelvis either. While I was in this facility I was slowly moving on from being dependent on a wheelchair to crutches and at the same timeI had gained about fifty-five/sixty percent of my cognitive function back. Due to my progress I was ready to transfer back home and this is where I became involved with Laura Fergusson Trust.
With LauraFergusson Trust I was supported by a physiotherapist, speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist and they all played a big part in the last and vital stages of my recovery as I focused on getting back to being me.It was recognised that lots had changed for me when I moved home, and this required a huge family effort to support me along with the rehab team. I had to revisit my cultural upbringing, practices and beliefs in Maoridom. My grandparents and parents along with my wider whanau contributed to help me get back on track. The LFT team worked alongside my whanau as I live in a Papakainga (traditional village) to make sure that the rehab programme was relevant for me. Yeah nah I was pretty stoked they picked that up.
At this time I was on crutches and I was learning how to walk. This process was different to what I had previously experienced as the physio worked alongside me to create a programme to best fit me and how I was living. My exercises were changed up along with my routine and before you know it I was able to lose the crutches and walk normally.
The occupational therapist helped me improve on the daily life side of things like prioritising stuff and remembering how to plan and complete simple things the right way. Activities like normal chores and baking along with the side of things that everyone takes for granted. Achieving these simple activities played a big part in my recovery.
My speech and language therapist helped me with alexithymia and the effects it has. I was taught how to express my feelings and emotions again along with understanding things. It is honestly something else and I love being able to do it but it’s just being able to say thank you in a cool and meaningful way and that changes everything, to show people how/what emotions I’m feeling is truly something else.
It has been a challenging journey seeing what I could and couldn’t do then and realising all the things I can do now. I continue to move forward and am engaging in a normal life once again. I have some pretty big goals and thanks to the support I received I am confident I will achieve these.
This crew gave me confidence and because LFT are still working alongside BGI, I have started a new job.
Without the support of the team I would not be where I am today and I am incredibly grateful for that.