SNN July 2018

Lynda says she has no regrets about
how life has been and advised others
with an SCI to live the same way. “If
you are like me, you will get great
pleasure from being praised for your
fortitude rather than your sorrow.”
LYNDA SCOTT
49 Years in a Wheelchair
28
The day 20 July 1969 will forever be momentous in history. American Neil
Armstrong, who took the first steps on the surface of the moon, said the
now iconic words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Back here on earth, that day was unforgettable for Lynda Scott for entirely
different reasons.
A 15-year-old Lynda fell ill with a high temperature and severe pain in her
back. Her GP, who did house calls in those days, didn’t know what was
wrong. They treated Lynda for pleurisy, pneumonia and kidney infection.
“He told my Mum that I probably just didn’t want to go to school,” said
Lynda, who is now 64-years of age and has had a lifetime to reflect on
those fateful days.
By day four Lynda was vomiting and delirious and the doctor was
perplexed. She was admitted and put on morphine to ease the pain. The
house surgeon visited and Lynda told him she didn’t have much pain but
her feet and legs felt tingly but nothing was done.
By morning, she had a strange feeling – she was adamant her feet had gone
through the mattress and were sitting on the floor. She had a spinal abscess
which had caused irreparable damage.
“I was a T6 complete paraplegic,” she said. Action was then swift, but it
was too late. She spent three weeks in intensive care in Palmerston North
Hospital and was then moved to the Orthopaedic Ward for a further four
months.
Lynda remembered that the GP had sent her mum (who had been
widowed seven years earlier with four kids to care for) a bill for all the
house calls, which she duly paid. Lynda was a naïve teenager at the time and
the gravity of her situation didn’t really hit.
“Suddenly, I had a huge number of people around me, teaching me how
to live as a paraplegic, teaching me how to manage bladder and bowel,
physiotherapy, wheelchair management and just life in general. I just didn’t
have time really to dwell on the massive change to my life. Perhaps I was
too young to fully understand my predicament.”
Her mother suffered huge sorrow at her daughter’s situation. It was hard
enough accepting that her daughter’s life would never be the same again,
but it was even more difficult for her to accept the alleged negligence.
Lynda said; “the GP and house surgeon at the Palmerston North Hospital
were negligent in that they took no action to help me when I was so
obviously critically ill. Years later, we heard that many aspects of my case
were hushed up and I tried to recover the medical records from the
hospital, but was told they had been destroyed, which would have been
untrue”.
“It’s too late to remedy anything now. Accusing a doctor of negligence just
wasn’t done back then and because there was no support, I just had to get
on with life.”
And get on with life she did. When you hear her story, it underlines how
tough the rehab process was 50 years ago. It was a world away from
today’s experience.
“She had never heard the word ‘rehabilitation’
before. It was a buzz word with the news
that Burwood was going to be built and
that paraplegics would be going there to be
rehabilitated.”
She had never heard the word “rehabilitation” before. “It was a buzz word
with the news that Burwood was going to be built and that paraplegics
would be going there to be “rehabilitated”. Unfortunately that didn’t
happen for another 10 years so the physios did what they knew, but
there was no specialist physiotherapists in existence. ACC didn’t exist
then either and SCI patients were left very much on their own without
support.” Lynda remembers she had no social support or counselling.
“I slowly gained some movement back and while in hospital, I was going
to physio daily. A physio student called Mark Oram got me working on
core strength and pushed me to the limit. In the time he worked with me,
I found new strengths and inspiration.” Once the students went back to
Dunedin, the physical recovery assistance was sadly lacking. Good luck
rather than good management was the key to recovery.
“I’m sure with today’s processes and knowledge, I could have regained so
much more mobility where I wouldn’t be in the position I am now.”
Occupational therapy consisted of making rope doormats by macramé.
This was to strengthen her arms. “I made a lot of mats and had a thriving
business there for a while selling them to everyone who would listen. I
probably owe the government something for the rope I used!”
She has clear memories of the process of selecting her first wheelchair. It
consisted of “here is a pamphlet, which one do you want?” There was no
fitting, no customisation.
Lynda said she had been very lucky. She regained a lot of movement and
strength which was a blessing that she was truly grateful for. “I’m fortunate
that by the time I reached 18, I no longer needed a chair, walking on one
walking stick as my shoulders would be totally ruined if I’d continually used
a chair like that.”
Home life was a challenge. They had no assistance with converting the