Dare to Ask | Overcoming a new condition later in life
I was gonna work again, it wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when. And there's other things that I'd like to be doing too but I've just gotta be patient, I'll work through it and I'll get back to doing everything.
Full episode transcripts here:
David Harriss: Tell the whole story?
Interviewer: Yeah.
David Harriss: Okay.
Interviewer: What happened to your leg?
David Harriss: Woke up one morning just with a sore foot and by a day later I couldn't walk on it. So I went down to the doctors and that was because I was living out west at the time, and a country doctor said, "Have you ever had gout?" And I've said, "I've never had gout in my life." So she gave me a prescription and pain killers. Well, a day later I'd eaten the pain killers and that, went down there and she looked at me and she says, "Oh, yeah, we better get you off to Bathurst Hospital." And I was in Bathurst Hospital all of about 15 minutes before they ambulanced me straight out to Orange Hospital. And it was a blood clot and they tried those stents for two, three days, which was painful. And then just said, "Oh, well we can't do anything with it, "it's not gonna work." So they said, "We're gonna have to take the ball of your foot." The front of my foot. When I came outta surgery, they said, "That's no good." We're gonna have to take it below the knee," and took me back in. And that's my leg. And then it just goes straight back in.
Interviewer: How did this change your life?
David Harriss: Had a good job. I was riding a motorcycle to and from work. I've still got my bikes, but I can't ride them now. But I was basically off work for six years. Well, when I ended up on Centerlink benefits, they sent me to Jobactive, and because I had an amputation, Jobactive just looked straight at me and said, "Well, what are you doing here?" And referred me to Castle. First of all, when I went there, it was the interviews and that fortnightly, but then they had me do a Warehousing III course, which I found interesting and that, which I passed. I did a week's practical at a place called Powerdown and I got my forklift ticket too. I've been driving a forklift since I was 16 years old, but I never had the license. Now I have.
Interviewer: Did this help you find a job?
David Harriss: I work for SHARKSKIN International making wetsuits and various stuff out of that type of material. It's been well, six years in the making really, to find a job and that. And this company that I'm with, basically he said when I walked in the door at the interview, "If you're willing to have a go, then he's willing to give me a go." And I'm the type of person, I've always worked all my life, and yeah, I just get in there, I do what's expected of me.
Interviewer: Did you still get support from Castle?
David Harriss: I've been offered by Castle, if I need some people to go in there, to assess the situation and quite often they're talking to the employer. So yeah, I feel like I am getting support from them.
Interviewer: What dose getting back to work mean to you?
David Harriss: It means a lot, because I was just about going stir crazy sitting at home. I was drinking more, smoking more. Now I'm back at work, I find that I'm drinking less, I'm smoking less. I'm sleeping better because I come home tired from work. I was gonna work again, it wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when, yep. And there's other things that I'd like to be doing too but I've just gotta be patient, I'll work through it and I'll get back to doing everything.