SNN July 2018

house to make it an accessible home. A builder friend made a ramp for
them but with no guidance, the slope was about 4:1! “I couldn’t get to the
toilet at all so had to use a commode and showering involved leaving the
bathroom door open because the doors of the house were all too narrow.
“There is nothing like a bit of motivation to get walking! No funding was
available to make changes to the house and Mum had no money to do so.”
Lynda spent the rest of 1969 and 1970 away from Palmerston North
Girls High School and continued her education when she could by
correspondence. She went to physio and generally was “hidden from the
world”.
That changed in 1971, her sixth form year, as Lynda went back to school. It
was hard going. There were no accessible toilets, no ramps, and the science
lab was upstairs.
“Classmates fought to carry my books upstairs and I followed on my bum
up the stairs, another friend dragged my chair upstairs and I got to the
class, usually late. As half of the class was involved in this manoeuvre we all
got into trouble just about every time. No consideration was given to me
needing any adaptions at the school and I just needed to deal with it myself.
I remember the Crippled Children Society (now CCS Disability Action)
being involved but it didn’t make any difference.”
“My friends were kind, but it was a time when they didn’t want to deal
with someone who wet themselves (no incontinence products then) or
had “accidents” and who didn’t fit easily into the back of a Mark II Zephyr
so it was just Mum and me and our family. My late teenage years were an
incredibly lonely couple of years. “
She wished that she had gone to University after school, but it wasn’t an
option because her family couldn’t afford it. Instead she worked in various
offices, married and travelled around Australia, working her way with
her then husband. She ran a business, mowed lawns, gardened, sat on
committees at school and lived in North Queensland for some years.
She walked through both her pregnancies and produced two beautiful kids
who are now adults and “I’m now married to an amazing man who is so
caring towards me. My life has been one I’m forever grateful for.”
Lynda has deteriorated in the last 20 years and now uses a wheelchair 95
percent of the time. Scoliosis, damaged shoulders and spinal deterioration
have all impacted her motivation to exercise regularly.
“I have no regrets about how life has been. Regrets only breed anger and
resentment. Life is what it is.”
She is proud of the fact that she has worked fulltime throughout most of
her life and while she doesn’t have the same limitations as many others
with SCI do, her never-give-up attitude has played a big part.
Lynda is now semi-retired. She works as a Volunteer coordinator of
Kaikoura Community Op Shop. She has made a difference in her adopted
community – they have raised $300,000 for the Kaikoura Community all
through voluntary work. Earthquake damage to their house caused a
further and final move to Port Underwood in the Marlborough Sounds –
and she is content. A typical day can involve anything from planting trees, to
gardening, to book keeping for the shop, to just general living.
“I’ll just happily relax and look back on, what I call an unremarkable life,
but hope that at the end of the day, I have made some people happy,
haven’t upset too many people and impressed some people with my
determination and fortitude.
“But then there are lots of us old SCIs (not age but length of SCI) out
there having done exactly that. I feel my life has been enriched by my
disability. I haven’t missed out on much and in fact have experienced things I
doubt I ever would have if I had been able bodied.”
Q&A
Lynda Scott has a simple outlook on life. “My motto is,” she said. “You get
one shot at life and whatever circumstances you find yourself in is still
better than being 6 feet under.” We asked her how she has coped with
the mental battle of a spinal cord impairment over the past 49 years.
How do you suggest people accept the reality that they may be
in a wheelchair for life?
There is an initial grieving period of the loss we suffer when we get
an SCI. I can’t say I didn’t grieve, but I don’t remember it. Perhaps my
mind doesn’t want to remember it. I believe that it’s great to have all the
opportunities today to help with rehab, but eventually the thing that is
going to help your recovery the most is to accept the new norm in life.
It’s nothing like you ever imagined, but acceptance gives you a strength
you never knew you possessed. It’s a challenge to face the world in a
wheelchair.
By all means, take the opportunities presented to try techniques that will
improve your quality of life, continue to be motivated to keep yourself
as fit as your disability allows, eat well, become a good friend with a
GP you trust and your support people. Socialise, push yourself into a
society that will be taken aback when you wheel in and make a stand!
Gain meaningful employment and aim for qualifications that will lead to a
more meaningful job if you aren’t happy with the one you have.
Find the good in all your experiences and amaze everyone with your
positive attitude (believe me, you can be feeling like crap after an
experience, but if you laugh about it, others will embrace your attitude
and love you for it). Joe Bloggs doesn’t give a stuff that you are being a
misery guts, but showing you have great attitude creates an aura around
you that make people want to be with you. As time goes by, your new
life becomes the norm.
What are some of the ways that you have been able to stay
positive and keep pushing what you can do? How important is
winning the mental battle?
The mental battle for me was when I saw how crushed my Mum was
when I fell ill. It became a challenge to make her and the rest of the
family comfortable with our new situation. I don’t ever remember
being depressed, or feeling that my life wasn’t worth living but I know
everyone has a different view on their circumstances. I have always
treated life as an adventure, have a rant / cry and then get on with it.
Mind you, I still can’t believe that my mother paid the GP!
You touched on the fact that with aging bodily functions
deteriorates - is it hard to continually be faced by challenges
along the journey? How do you overcome them?
Changes in my spinal deterioration/ scoliosis, has meant that, now
more than ever I am using my wheelchair. I’m getting used to it. Spinal
deterioration has affected bladder and bowel functions but I face each
issue as it occurs, adjust to the changed circumstances and get used to it.
I take one day at a time and gradually adjust my life to the changed
circumstances. I keep in mind that we only get one chance at life and the
good things still far outweigh the bad so adapt as necessary.
What advice do you offer to others who have sustained an SCI
and are at the start of their journey?
The challenges and the changes you face in your new life are mind
boggling. Grieve by all means, but there is a great life out there to be
had. It’s not the same life that you had programmed in to your being,
but is still an awesome one. Make the most of your ingenuity, grit and
determination. If you are like me, you will get great pleasure from being
praised for your fortitude rather than your sorrow. If you are fortunate
enough to be under ACC, use them to the fullest extent to which you
are entitled, but don’t get stuck on the mind-set of how much you need
to screw from them to be happy. Happiness and self-pride comes from
within, not from another payment from a support organisation.
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