Another rewarding Royal Rehab experience
As is always the case, Northern Sydney Welfare Officers Norm Pounder, Fred Jackson, Greg Grace (new recruit) and Ken Vessey had another inspirational visit to Royal Rehab, Ryde where they are always welcomed by Senior Management and the professional staff. The persons we met during our visit in the Spinal & Brain Injury Units once again floored us by their determination to overcome their injuries and, as in the past, we were able to see first hand the improvements many had made since we last saw them.
On this visit we met a number of clients including:
Troy Miles from Belmont North, NSW.
Troy Miles and his loving family; wife Nicole, sons Toby and Zac (another son Bailey was at work) and sister-in-law Sharon.
Troy had suffered serious spinal injuries in a motor cycle accident in Adelaide and is now a tetraplegic fighting back in rehab. He played rugby league for the Newcastle Knights 1991-1994, Hunters Mariners (Super League) 1997, and Lakes United before retiring;
Rodney Bird from Wauchope, NSW.
Rodney is an ex dairy farmer and has been at Royal Rehab recovering from spinal injuries incurred through an abscess on his spine and hopes to be going home soon. He is also an active Men of League member;
Damian Jobson
Damian Jobson and wife Brooke, young sons Kynan and Zayb.
Damian became a quadriplegic when he broke his C4 and C5 vertebrae when a tackle went wrong playing for Windale Eagles against the University of Newcastle. Damian and his family will need plenty of support in the future and the rugby league community and authorities are looking at these issues;
Peter Gaylard and his dad, Robert. Peter had been at the Royal Rehab previously for treatment of his spinal cord. A keen Cronulla Sharks supporter, he was confident they would win the 2016 NRL premiership;
Rob Scott and his inspirational Dad, Steve. Rob is continuing his recovery from serious brain injuries incurred in the USA when he was attacked and “king hit”. Rob amazed us again with his determination and the degree of recovery we observed since our last visit;
Michael Bannister – a real character who is enthusiastically undertaking his rehab recovery from spinal injuries;
Ben Rosten, a Sea Eagles supporter who broke his neck whilst surfing at Dee Why beach in April 2016. Against all odds, Ben has worked hard on his rehab and was delighted to inform us that he was now walking small steps – well done Ben.
We presented all of these amazing persons with Men of League polo shirts and wished them a continued recovery from their injuries.
As always when we visit Royal Rehab, we have the pleasure and opportunity to meet amazing persons from other sports. On this visit, we met David Hall (International Tennis Hall Of Fame; Wheelchair Tennis Gold, Sydney Paralympics); a young Australian representative player Keegan Of Chee; and Dom Punch, a Newcastle rugby union player who was seriously injured in a collapsed scrum in 2015 and was happy to be returning home in a few days.
