Dare to Ask | My passion is caring for others
Meet Luke, one of Castle's disability support workers on the Central Coast of NSW, who's career path is driven by a personal journey caring for his terminally ill mother.
In this raw video, Luke shares his passion for sports, movies, guitar, and comics, highlighting the rewards of helping others reach their full potential. He discusses the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities and urges understanding and support. Join Luke as he reveals the fulfilling aspects of his job and addresses the mental strain of advocating against discrimination.
Experience the inspiring story of turning hardship into a meaningful career, making a difference in the lives of those in need.
Learn more about Castle's NDIS programs here
Complete video transcript below:
Luke: My name is Luke. I'm a disability support worker for Castle Personnel.
Interviewer: What are some things you love to do?
Luke: I'm very sporty. I love my movies, TV shows. I like to play guitar and read comics, and I'm quite a decent home cook as well.
Interviewer: Do you have a lived experience with disability?
Luke: Not disabilities personally, but I actually had to be a caretaker for my mother when she had terminal pancreatic stomach cancer. I was told at 17 years old that she might have about seven to nine months to live at that stage. So I was 18 when she passed away.
Interviewer: Did this experience influence your decision to work in disability?
At the time, before it all happened, I was just going to be this person that was like, I was going to be happy taking a trade, maybe get into the building business and all that sort of stuff. But then when I sort of started taking a more primary care role in my mother's life, and my grandmother's life for that matter, I just found that caring for people and stuff like that, it just had this real sense of reward about it. And I figured that if I could use that skill to help other people in life and help them reach their full potential, then why not?
Interviewer: What does disability mean to you?
Luke: Disability for me, means that it just means that these people have always had to fight for everything in their life, whether it be just to be treated normal, just to be accepted in the playground, just to be part of something bigger than themselves. And I think that nowadays no one has to really be alone on themselves fighting anymore. They have the support network around them to actually help them achieve their full potential.
Interviewer: What do you like about working at Castle?
Luke: Being able to get up every day and feel like I'm actually doing a job that I want to do, rather than going to a job that I have to do to make money. I could do this for a lot less, but I don't know. I just like working with people. I think that's the real benefit for me.
Interviewer: Are there challenges in your role?
Luke: Oh, absolutely. It's funny because most of my mates are tradies, so they sit there and go, "Oh, you get to take them to the movies and stuff like that." And I'm like, "It's not just that." I think the most mentally straining part for me as well is when they come to me and tell me about an instance outside of Castle where they might have felt like they've been persecuted, or discriminated against, and I can only do sort of so much for them. I can point them in the right direction, tell them who to talk to, and I can do what I can, but I can't fix it all for them. That's where I think the hardest part of the job comes into it.
Interviewer: What would you say to those who discriminate against people with a disability?
Luke: Probably can't say that on camera. To those that do discriminate. I just think you just need to educate yourself on what these people go through, and what these people do every day just to get out of bed, stop being so ignorant when it comes to people that are a bit different from you.