Quadraplegics who refuse to say die

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 17

Quadraplegics who refuse to say die

Richard, Paul, Bronwyn, Nikki and Stuart, are all going flatting together in Papanui. Nothing unusual in that, except that Paul and Richard are quadraplegics. ■ Until now most quadraplegics have lived in institutions or in their family homes where constant attention is available. But for Richard and Paul that is not good enough. Visit Richard and Paul in the St John of God private hospital and you will more than likely be directed to “the room where all the noise is coming from.” Richard can usually be found studying (“There’s not a lot else to do”) surrounded by an extensive stereo system and his collection of new wave' records. The walls are hospital white but they are covered with posters. Richard Fright and Paul Robinson are young and they don’t .want to spend the rest of their lives in institutions. ; At 23, Richard has been a quadraplegic for five

years, since a swimming accident. ' Most of that time has been spent in St John’s. But it has not stopped him pursuing a career in electricial engineering; this year he is one of the few starting a- Ph.D. with a scholarship from Canterbury University. Along the corridor is Paul,, aged 20, who was a carpenter before his car accident three years ago. Now he is finishing his second year, of a NiZ. Certificate of Engineering. St John’s is quiet and peaceful in the evenings, which is. all right if you are elderly as most of the patients are, but not such a good social life for two young men. “Going to a hospital can be a trap,” says Richard. “It’s very easy, no-one else is doing anything and then you don’t want to do anything. “It inputs a bit of a damper on your' initiative and;.it; certainly doesn’t help integrate you back into the community. You become even more depend-

ent living out here — the longer you stay the harder it is to get out.” ; Paul lights another cigarette. Being a quadraplegic does not always mean that all four limbs are paralysed. Both do have limited movement in their arms and hands but not enough to make them independent. “I’m sick of staying here,” says Paul. “I want a better social life, just being with people your own age who are doing things. Nothing ever changes here.” So they began considering their alternatives.

Living with their parents was out. Richard’s parents, are elderly and could not really cope, and Paul himself decided to come to a hospital. He comes from a farm near Timaru and says he was often “just in the road,” and besides there was nothing for him to do in Timaru. Now he goes home at week-ends. Buying a house and flatting with other people who are prepared to help them seemed a good idea.

They decided they would offer free. rent to their prospective flatmates.

“Bert Walker came out here about a year ago to have a look round and we told him about our idea. He was quite enthusiastic,” says Richard, and then with a wry smile, “We thought our biggest problem would be finding people to live with us.” It turned out that that was to be the. least of their worries.

By

WENDY DICKER

On New Year’s Eve Richard had found the house he wanted to buy.A good omen for the New Year and the new decade? Unfortunately they had reckoned without the machinations of Government departments, By April the intended house was bought and mortgaged and that was where things stopped. Various alterations have to be made to the house

before it is ready for two quadraplegics. Ramps have to be installed, the bathroom converted to a large shower and the drive asphalted. It will cost about $lO,OOO, and this has to be approved by the Accident Compensation Commission.

Richard and .Paul are still waiting for the final alterations. Evenutally they will be made and as the regional man-

ager Mr Gary Beer, for the A-C.C. puts it, “There’s a great deal involved here and these decisions can’t be made overnight.” So there sits a house in Papanui and the owner in St John’s hospital. Richard says “I guess they’re spending the taxpayers’ money and they’ve got to be careful if they’re creating precedents, but it is very frustrating.”

At the moment it costs the taxpayers $147 a week for Richard to stay in the spinal unit at St John’s.

It should cost considerably less than that when he and Paul move into their own house. The A.C.C. is also considering what sort of allowance they should get in the future.

“All we want is enough money so that we can repay the. people who will be living with us and looking after us by providing free rent and board for them,” says Richard. “We originally hoped to be in by May but now we’re hoping for the summer.” Paul is looking forward to barbecues and beer on the back lawn. And turning the stereo up loud. “If you do that around here you get all the other patients hanging on their bells until the nurses come and tell you to turn it down,” he says. In the meantime the other three flatmates have moved into the Blighs

Road house.. Nikki and Bronwyn have had nursing experience, so they know ■what they’re taking on. A good deal of commitment is needed from the three able-bodied flatmates. They . will be responsible for getting Paul and Richard up in the mornings, showering, dressing and cooking for them, and then the reverse in the evenings.

In fact, they will do everything that the two cannot do for themselves. Nikki says she does not think there will be any major problems, “It’ll just mean a bit of organisation.”

Richard and Paul chuckle over the thought of “breaking Stuart in”, Richard says he can already foresee one problem, however. “Stuart has this 1936 Louis Armstrong record. There could be a bit of a clash of tastes there,” he says, eyeing his XTC collection. Both hope that other quadraplegics will follow their example and move

out of institutions.- They know of only one other quadraplegic living outside an institution and not with relatives. Richard and Paul agree that “a hospital is no place ,to live.”

Back at the Accident Compensation Commission, wheels turn slowly. “These things take time,” says Gary Beer. “There are a lot of people and a lot of considerations involved and it can’t be done in a hurry. But we are doing our best to get things finalised.” And at St John’s in the quiet and sedate evening a nurse announces that there’s a cup of tea' waiting. Paul and Richard set off down the hall. Two quietly persistent young men — and very patient ones.