ParaQuad News

17 / 32

ParaQuad News • Issue 1 Autumn 2016 17
feature
enough water and checks his skin regularly
to maintain his skin integrity.
“You can have a really great life in a
wheelchair if you are prepared to put in the
hard yards.”
David’s advice to others with a spinal
cord injury is “don’t give up, keep moving,
manage what you eat, lift weights.” He says
he trains harder than an athlete.
“I have simplified living as a quad
downpat, it is so simple. I enjoy life, I love
life, I revel in it. I go out more than most and
my health is so good, due to the exercise I
do — I train and I’m focussed.”
“Many people with quadriplegia live life
worrying about a having a bowel accident
but I have never had to worry, which is a big
weight off my mind, to know my body well
enough.”
“Know that you can have a good life—
the key to my good life is being fit. It takes
dedication and you have to motivate
yourself.”
David lives on acreage near Richmond,
and manages the property with
assistance from a gardener and
neighbour. He likes a flutter and
spends time with a lifelong friend,
Jimmy, who picks him up and
takes him to cafes and window
shopping in the town. Although
he recently had double
pneumonia and spent a stint
in hospital, David has a lust
for life and says nothing is a
challenge for him.
In fact, David says he
wouldn’t swap his life for Justin
Beiber’s! “I am dedicated: my
life is really good, I’m having five
lifetimes in one, I am so happy. I’m 54 years
old and hopefully I will live a long and happy
life.”
Life hasn’t always been this good, and
David says at times it has been a very hard
life but he is in a good place now.
As for ParaQuad’s Attendant Care
Program, David is impressed by how well
ParaQuad’s PCAs are trained in spinal cord
injury specific care. “The carers, they look
after us every day and do a fantastic job, it’s
not an easy job.”
“I’ve lived a good life. A friend said to me ‘I
could have my worst day at work and I can
get on phone to you and I laugh and end up
having the best day ever.’ ”
For more
information on
ageing with
SCI, go to:
.
au/factsheets/
When Spinal Injury
Affects You Fact
Sheets – Ageing
with SCI
ParaQuad NSW
Attendant
Care Phone:
(02) 8741 5645
Love of Life