It’s more than just ageing

Warren is a 66 year old farmer from south Waikato. Two years ago he slipped in the milking shed, fell and hit his head. His injury was classified as mild, but there are some ongoing symptoms which impact his life. 

It's more than just ageing.

It’s been over two years since my injury now and reflecting on the journey, it’s taught me a lot.  I feel so lucky, it could have been so much worse. Sure, I still have the double vision, but I don’t have ongoing mental problems and I can still walk and talk. I mean, they took my licence off me, but that is what it is. It’s also helped me to appreciate the time I do have, because any of us, at any time could be gone in an instant, just by crossing the road, you know what I mean? 

My wife, Rosie has been there the whole way through. It hasn’t always been easy, but she’s stuck with me, through thick and thin. But I think it has brought us closer, I’ve realised how important she is and how much her support means. She’s just one of those highly organised people which made a huge difference in the early days, searching out different supports and keeping on top of everything. She pulled out all of the stops, really wanted the best for me.  There’s this group she found out at the Salvation Army which I go to a few times a week, it gives her a break and I can do some socializing. And get a bit of perspective cause some of the old blokes out there are a lot worse off than I am!

I’ve been getting a bit of weakness, got memory problems too. The kids tell me it’s old age, but no, I think it’s worse than that. Rosie has definitely noticed a difference. I’m a bit more careful now, perhaps ‘cause I think a bit slower than I used to, you know? So I give myself a bit more time. I make more time for prayer now, my faith was always important, but now praying also helps me feel calmer and supported through it all. Whether you ever fully recover, you may not, and that’s a hard thing to face. I’m just about as good as I maybe ever will be now. 

My biggest hurdle is that feeling of uselessness, I come from working stock, it’s how we were raised. My brothers, sisters all of them are still working, and have worked all my life, so I can’t, I just can’t go on the sickness benefit. So I’ve got to find other ways to have meaning, to give back. When I first came home I wrote thank you letters to all of my nurses and hospital staff, you know. But bigger than that, if this could help somebody else, I’d be very happy about that.  I think of other people who are suffering, and if I can possibly help them a little bit by sharing my experiences then that would be good. 

This case is a composite example created for illustrative purposes. It is drawn from the stories of several different people. Names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality.