SNN_August 2020 Issue FA_low res

NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 28
In 2000 you had another setback with your health,
what happened there?
Over Labour Weekend in 2000 I lost about 30 – 35 percent
of my movement. Bang just like that I lost it overnight. So
I went back to hospital and then into the Spinal Unit and
they couldn’t figure it out. They hadn’t experienced
anything like that before. It took them a long time to
figure out, but they worked out that where I had my
original injury was still quite unstable and it had moved
and caused more damage to my spinal cord. I was on and
off for neurosurgery for the first couple of years and they
were quite worried because back then they hadn’t done
the proposed neurosurgery that high up on a person with
SCI before. After two years the neurosurgeon said yes, he
can do it. They left it up to me and my wife to make the
choice. I chose to go ahead and it stabilised things but it
didn’t bring back all my movement. So I went from an
incomplete C5/C6 to a C4/C5. For example, I could not
drive anymore.
That setback inspired you to study again, what was the
experience like second time around?
When I went back to university in 2006 – 2007 I was
overwhelmed by the disability support services because
back in my day they just didn’t exist. When I went to
university first up there was nothing, absolutely nothing
– the registry office just didn’t want to know me. When I
went back in 2006 there was a whole support service that
was available to those with disabilities. It was
phenomenal. Today it is a totally different world and it is
wonderful.
What were you looking to achieve with your PhD?
The question is often asked at what point is someone with
a disability ageing or are they aged and disabled? When
does it switch over? Internationally there has been a
massive amount of research in this space. The majority of
the research indicates that someone with a spinal cord
injury, if they look after themselves, can live 90 – 95
percent lifespan of an able-bodied person. That was
certainly not well documented before. It is not saying that
you are not going to have a variety of complications along
the way.
One thing is clear if you don’t look after yourself and your
body then you are going to pay the price. There is no in
between there. In the end whether you are abled bodied
or disabled we all end up in the same place. We all end up
getting old and getting stuffed.
In the end whether you are
abled bodied or disabled
we all end up in the same
place. We all end up getting
old and getting stuffed.
before 1990 but the National Health Index (NHI) database
was really unreliable. It is meant to be cleared and
checked and deaths were meant to be removed but when I
went through it, I realised there were a number of people
who had passed away who were still on it. It has been a bit
of a journey but a number of people are working towards
fixing it, which is great.
What advice do you offer others with an SCI who are at
the start of their journey?
Life is but a journey and you only have one shot at it, so
you better make give it a pretty damn good shot. You need
to make the most of every day. It get’s harder as you get
older. I am coming up to 62 and I am finding that it’s not
my biological age, it is my age since the injury.
The research shows that time since your injury has more
of an impact than your biological age because you are
sitting down, your bones aren’t as strong, you are more
prone to arthritis, more prone to obesity which leads to
cardiovascular problems and respiratory problems. All
of that is a result of the fact you can’t physically exercise
in the same way. But you can live a full life – it is all up
to you.
Special mention:
Mark Thompson, named in Richard’s story as the first
person to attend the University of Otago in a wheelchair,
passed away recently at the age of 74. Mark was a great
survivor and he shared his story in the SNN. He enjoyed a
full and abundant life despite 51 years in a wheelchair
following his tragic accident at the age of 22. Our thoughts
and prayers go out to his friends and family at this time.
You are on the board for the New Zealand Spinal Cord
Injury Registry(NZSCIR), how important has that
work been?
Getting the registry up and running has been a huge
thing. When I started my research, it became clear that no
one in New Zealand actually knew how many SCI’s there
were in New Zealand. That is one of the things that the
PhD looks at. I was able to identify around 1500 injured