SNN_August 2023 Issue_web

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NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 22 A Lifetime of Helping Others We pay tribute to the life and service of Dr Richard Smail. FITTING TRIBUTE—Richard was presented with a well-deserved 'thank you' on his final retirement from the NZ Spinal Trust Board. Board member Noel Walton and our CEO Hans Wouters made the presentation. Dr Richard Smaill passed away on 31 May at his home in Christchurch surrounded by family and friends. The 64-year-old had a short stay in hospital. He was mostly lucid leading up to his final days and had many family, close friends and colleagues around him. Richard is survived by his wife Paulette and two adult children Tim and Jessica. He will be greatly missed. Richard was born in Balclutha the youngest child of five siblings to the late Charles (Charlie) and Gertrude (Trudi) Smaill. A funeral was held for Richard on 7 June with moving tributes from family and friends, he was well respected and very much loved. Friends that had known Richard for more than 50 years spoke of his friendship and support. Some of those friends went on to John McGlashan College boarding school in Dunedin. They vividly recounted Richard’s rugby accident at the age of 15 resulting in a spinal cord impairment (SCI). When he returned to boarding school following his accident, the boys used their ingenuity to help him navigate classrooms and school grounds. These were the days before ramps and other accessibility features were considered. Jess, Richard’s daughter, spoke of a loving father, and how she never saw the chair. Tim spoke about a dad who was honest. When they were young children, they would ride on the back of his wheelchair to kindergarten and primary school. “I knew I was in trouble” —Hans Wouters We mourn a great man whose work and legacy will live on for many years to come. Rest in peace Rich. Richard became a tetraplegic when he broke his neck in a rugby tackle. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, I used to be a pretty good rugby player,” Richard said remembering the day of his accident. “I was playing against some 17 and 18-year-olds. We were playing St Peter’s College from Gore. It was a head on tackle, and I slipped just as I was looking to tackle the chap. “He was one of those guys who lifted their knees very high when they ran. I slipped and stuffed it up, and my head hit his knee. I knew I was in trouble.”
SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 23 —Dr Richard Smaill One thing is clear if you don’t look after yourself and your body then you are going to pay the price. He left the health services in 1993 to become self-employed establishing a business in career counselling as well as a variety of consultancy work. Further health issues set him back but he was fortunate to be granted a Health Research Council Disability Research Placement Award. Overcoming challenges to make a difference PERSPECTIVE—Dr Richard Smaill never looked at what he couldn’t achieve, he always focused on what was possible and set about living his life. That was 49 years ago. In 1974 New Zealand was a very different place for Kiwis living with a disability. Medical professionals were only just gaining the knowledge on how to keep high level tetraplegics alive. Never giving up Still, Richard did not complain. He never looked at what he couldn’t achieve, he always focused on what was possible and set about living his life. He went back to school to gain University Entrance, went on to study Psychology at University of Otago becoming a registered Psychologist in 1984. And in 2015, he completed his PhD at the University of Otago. Richard worked for many years in the health services in a variety of positions in research, planning and senior management. During this time, he completed a Diploma in Health Service Management and was also awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship to study health information systems in Great Britain. “It was a huge opportunity, but it came at a terrible time,” remembered Richard. “It was back in the day when there weren’t emails or things like that. I used a fax machine to work out and plan my itinerary. The Health Reforms were starting to take place and I had a conversation with my Area Health Board boss who said if you want to go, you better go now as I can’t guarantee you will have a job in six months. “I remember getting communication when I was over in Britain which basically said all Third Tier Managers would be made redundant. In a funny sort of way, they did me a favour as I left and set up my own business doing career counselling and strategic planning for different organisations.” In 2000, Richard had an unexpected setback. Over Labour Weekend he lost about 35 percent of his movement overnight. He went back to hospital and then into the Spinal Unit and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. “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,” he said. That illness inspired Richard to study again. His doctoral thesis ‘Ageing with a spinal cord injury in New Zealand’ was completed in 2014 and was recognised by the Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago as being of exceptional quality. Richard said 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? He says internationally there has been a massive amount of research in this space. Most of the research indicates that someone with a spinal cord impairment, if they look after themselves, can live a 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,” he said. “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.” He also played a leading role in setting up the New Zealand Spinal Cord Impairment Registry (NZSCIR), which was hugely important work. “When I started my research, it became clear that no one in New Zealand actually knew how many SCIs there were in New Zealand,” he said. Richard realised there were several people who had passed away who were still on the registry. “It’s been a bit of a journey, but a number of people are working towards fixing it, which is great.”
Page 1 and 2: August 2023 Volume 26 / Issue 2 Te
Page 3 and 4: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 3 A Road Trip t
Page 5 and 6: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 5 Supporting Po
Page 7 and 8: SPINAL Fadiel NETWORK NEWS New Zeal
Page 9 and 10: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 9 —Barry Card
Page 11 and 12: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 11 plane for fu
Page 13 and 14: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 13 Meet Our Tea
Page 15 and 16: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 15 All for a Go
Page 17 and 18: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 17 —Su Marsha
Page 19 and 20: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 19 Man on a Mis
Page 21: 90% of users rated GentleCath with
Page 25 and 26: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 25 We care abou
Page 27 and 28: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 27 relationship
Page 29 and 30: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 29 Polytechnic
Page 31 and 32: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 31 Journals/mag
Page 33 and 34: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 33 Making a Dif
Page 35 and 36: SPINAL NETWORK NEWS 35 Thank You to

SNN_August 2023 Issue_web

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