FUNDRAISER FOR PARAPLEGIC REDLYNCH CHIPPY IN FIGHT OF HIS LIFE
REDLYNCH chippy Mitchell Sheppard is in the fight of his life and needs a little help from his friends after a motocross accident left him paraplegic.
The 25-year-old was riding at home on August 11 when he suffered the injury – a T12 spinal compression which forced the crushed vertebrae on to his spinal cord.
He now has limited feeling in his lower limbs.
A fundraiser at the Red Beret Hotel on Saturday will help raise money for his continued rehabilitation and to get his home wheelchair-ready.
“He is doing the best that he can in circumstances where you were perfectly able-bodied one day and paraplegic the next,” sister Kiera Sheppard said.
“He is making the most of rehab and is as positive as he can be.”
Mr Sheppard was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to stabilise his spine with metal rods and screws.
He is undergoing intensive rehabilitation in the spinal unit of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, where he is expected to stay for up to three months. Further rehab will then follow on the Gold Coast.
“He has his down days but he still gets back up and does what he needs to,” Ms Sheppard said. “There are definitely up days and down days.”
The family is waiting for bureaucracy to catch up with the prognosis that he will need lifelong rehab.
“It takes doctors 48 hours to diagnose a condition you will live with for the rest of your life but the government has a different timeframe,” Ms Sheppard said.
She said her brother can’t qualify for a disability support pension until his condition has been deemed “fully treated and stabilised”. He cannot meet the fortnightly reporting requirements for Newstart.
“It is quite difficult to watch him go through this,” Ms Sheppard said.
“Lots of changes have to be made to the house.
“We have stairs which are not wheelchair-friendly at all.
“It is very expensive – the National Disability Service takes quite a long time to work through the process.” A Go Fund Me campaign has been launched and details of Saturday’s fundraiser can be found at Mitchell Sheppard’s Road to Recovery on Facebook.