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“ He didn’t suffer fools, so was slightly intimidating in that respect. Alan was always a busy guy so, if you were going to occupy his time, you had better have a good reason for it. Andrew Hall, NZST Prof. Alan Clarke established the New Zealand Spinal Trust in 1994. A Lifetime of Memories The NZ Spinal Trust reflects on 25 years of Highs and Lows In 1991, Professor Alan Clarke, Dean of the Christchurch School of Medicine, fell off his roof and became paralysed. During his 10 weeks in the Burwood Spinal Unit, he discovered rehabilitation as he had never understood it before…that the severely under-resourced rehabilitation process was a low priority within the health sector. In 1994, with some persuasion from Christine Smith, General Manager of Burwood Hospital, Professor Clarke gave up his Deanship to become Director of the Burwood Spinal Unit and, that same year, established the New Zealand Spinal Trust. Christine was the first Chair of the Trust; Alan, the first Executive Director. The Allan Bean Centre (ABC) for Research and Learning - the home of the New Zealand Spinal Trust - stood as a testament to a man who believed that rehabilitation and independent living should be controlled by those recovering rather than by the health sector. It is 25 years since the establishment of the NZ Spinal Trust and Professor Alan Clarke’s vision has come to life. The Trust has evolved and now lives with the mantra of “It’s great to be alive”. To mark the milestone, we look back on six of the key moments of the NZ Spinal Trust over the past 25 years with Andrew Hall (AH) and Bernadette Cassidy (BC). Andrew, a former CEO and Chairman of the Board, has done it all. He recently returned to the Trust to run Kaleidoscope and the Peer Support Programme, and Bernadette has been a key member of the NZST for 17 years. They took a walk down memory lane to record how far the Trust has come from its humble beginnings. 22
1. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST AND PROFESSOR ALAN CLARKE’S VISION IN 1994 What was Professor Alan Clarke like as a person and also professionally? AH: I first met Alan in 1999 when he was running the Burwood Spinal Unit. He was one of those very vigorous, older gentlemen. He didn’t suffer fools, so was slightly intimidating in that respect. Alan was always a busy guy so, if you were going to occupy his time, you had better have a good reason for it. He involved me in a seminar that he had organised about how the return- to-work rate for SCI people could be improved, and I got to see another side of him where he was much easier to talk to. There was once an article in the North and South Magazine which profiled Alan. The journalist who wrote the article had a phrase which described him very well. He said “He was a man who spoke in exclamation marks.” Alan didn’t so much converse but exclaim. BC: Alan was one of a kind, a legend, highly intelligent and a visionary. He was a great advocate for libraries and how having an information tool-kit would assist people with SCI to ask the important questions. I had the privilege of setting up and implementing a client-centred resource which is inclusive and provides tailor-made resources and services. Alan was formidable and never took “No” for an answer, which didn’t always sit well with people, but he got things done. After all these years, I still miss his wonderful booming voice and distinctive laugh. A patient enjoying the library with a good mate. The earthquake that rocked Christchurch in 2011 changed the Garden City forever. What was his vision for the NZ Spinal Trust when he first started it up? And how did he set about achieving that vision? AH: His fundamental point was that people going through rehabilitation, in particular spinal injuries, needed to be in charge of their own journey. They should be encouraged to manage the people around them. The whole power dynamic - whereby a patient is admitted into hospital and doctors, and physios and nurses work on them - needed to change. He wanted people to be encouraged to be in charge of that right from the start and, for all of those professions who were working with the patient, to understand that they were also working for that patient. Because he came from a medical background, and from quite a senior role in his profession, he expected that is how his rehabilitation would go that way, and there was no reason why it couldn’t be that way for everybody. Whether they were a professor of surgery or not. What do you think Professor Clarke would make of the NZST today? AH: I hope he would see it as having developed to the next stage of his vision. He died in 2007 and, at that time, we did not have Peer Support operational. The basis for the way Peer Support deals with patients is for them to be in charge of their own destiny, which was - exactly what Alan’s vision was and so entirely consistent with what he wanted to achieve way back then. BC: I think that Prof would be immensely proud of the Trust and how we, as staff, have helped to fulfil his vision. A vision which lives on and will continue to grow and evolve. Prof came to my mind when our beloved building, the Allan Bean Centre (ABC), was demolished in 2015. He had put so much blood, sweat and tears into raising money and building partnerships in order to realise his vision. I think, in some respects, if he had been alive to witness the demolition of the ABC, his heart would have been a little broken. However, Prof was a force to be reckoned with, he had a lot of ‘mana and respect’, and would have done his utmost to find a solution. He died 12 years ago and has left a huge legacy which as staff of the NZST, we are committed to fulfilling. But I’d like to think we are continuing to expand on his vision, such as: • Development of the Connecting People Family and Peer Support service and the way this service is delivered at the Burwood and Auckland Spinal Units • Making the NZST truly national through the Kaleidoscope and Connecting People services and a national library service 23
Page 1 and 2: AUGUST 2019 VOL 22 ISSUE 2 WE CELEB
Page 3 and 4: The Impact of a Mentor Peter Thornt
Page 5 and 6: Finding Futures Hans Wouters CEO’
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Page 11 and 12: When you get it all right on a run
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Page 35 and 36: Thank You To Our FUNDERS & SPONSORS
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