Creating capability from disability - Cerebral Palsy League

Roy James Purchase
(1923 – 2007)
ROY Purchase was an
exceptional person.
He was the first person with
cerebral palsy to be employed
by the Cerebral Palsy League
and was the most well known
and longest serving driver of its
buses.
For over 20 years Roy
transported League clients to
school and workshops.
He had a faultless record and
was always on time, courteous
and nothing was too much
trouble for him.
This made him the ideal
President of the Adult Spastic
Club, as it was called then.
Roy met and married Valda
Dempster, a trained handicraft
instructor.
Swapping wheelchairs
for hot wheels
A FEW lucky young people
who attend the Cerebral Palsy
League’s Brisbane north service,
swapped wheelchairs for hot
wheels when they took to the
streets of Scarborough on Harley
Davidson’s as part of a special
respite program.
Glasshouse Mountains Ulysses
Bike Club members: Drums, Tojo
and Irene, Towbar, Budgie and
Val and Roy, after his retirement,
lived happily at Beachmere
when, like all of us, age began
to ‘catch up’. They then made
the decision to move to a lovely
retirement village in Sandgate.
Roy is survived by his wife and
their delightful daughter, Debra.
Debra, husband John, and their
daughter Ruby were a great
delight to Roy over the years,
and continue to be for Val.
Roy accepted his disability,
which he did not let deter him
from leading a full life.
As Debra said in her eulogy of
her father, “there was not a ‘dad
thing’ which he did not do and
he was a well known ‘Mr Fix-it’
with household maintenance”.
To Valda, Debra, John and Ruby,
the Cerebral Palsy League
remembers Roy and offers our
condolences.
Butterfly volunteered their time to
cut laps of the foreshore with their
passengers for several hours.
League risk assessor, Coral
Niethe kept a watchful eye and
said support workers were just
as awesome with their transfer
techniques as Ulysses members
were with their driving skills.
“Staff assisted the young people
from their wheelchairs to sit either
on the bikes or in the sidecar
giving up their usual transport
for something a little cooler, and
Poem for the League
By Juanita Hansen
Our League has many roles to
play;
Providing support and
empowerment everyday;
The greatest resource we have is
our team,
Each of our members works
towards common dreams.
It is not an easy role to fulfil.
There are challenges many and
time won’t stand still.
We know you work hard with little
reward,
But the effort you make can not
be ignored.
With your great passion, hard
work and endurance;
The people we work with have
faith and assurance;
That opportunities and choices
will be theirs to enjoy,
Due to you a great team member
that the League has employed.
faster,” Ms Niethe said.
Respite is one of a number of
programs available for schoolaged
children who receive services
through the League.
For further information, contact
the League on 07 3621 3800.
Below: Young people with cerebral palsy
swapped wheelchairs for hot wheels with
Ulysses Bike Club members and League
support workers, as part of a holiday program
by the Scarborough seaside.
Page 10 - League News Edition 1 Volume 31, 2007