Victim aims to fill support gap
Scott Tutty was 13 years old when he was knocked off his bike while not wearing a helmet, leaving him with a life-long brain injury.
‘‘I had to learn to walk again, talk again, eat again,’’ the Timaru man said.
‘‘I didn’t start school again for a long time. With my family it was hard, and life was hard.’’
Having a supportive family growing up, and a supportive wife and children as an adult, has been amazing but not everyone in his position has that support, he said.
As an adult, Tutty’s injury still impacts his life, especially in organising his thoughts and ideas.
But he identified a lack of support for people suffering with brain injuries in South Canterbury, both in terms of hospital facilities and social support.
‘‘Even just with help around the house, it’s pretty hard a person by themselves and helping with baking or taking them for coffee. Just getting them out of the house, that lifts them up in a big way.’’
Tutty and his support worker, Logan Wilson from CCS Disability Action South Canterbury, are now hoping to fill that gap by launching a new fund in South Canterbury.
‘‘Prior to us doing this the only thing possibly related to brain injuries was a support group which met once a month but they no longer have funding for hall hire,’’ Wilson said.
‘‘They were going to disintegrate, basically because they were no longer able to pay for hall hire so Scott’s idea was to get this group set up.’’
Tutty said the group was valuable because he could talk to people who had similar experiences and feelings to him, they understood in a way even the most sympathetic person couldn’t.
The new fund will ensure the support group can continue but Wilson said his conversations with people have revealed a lot of interest and ideas.
These include financial support towards specialist appointments in Christchurch, supporting families, and bringing in a social worker to talk to people about what services are available and what patients can expect.
He said there are other organisations such as Brain Injury New Zealand and Brain Injury Association Otago that run a variety of programmes that he hopes they will eventually adopt.
‘‘Initially it is building that platform so we can turn it into something more.’’
The first founders meeting is 7pm on Wednesday at the Learning Hub in Timaru Hospital. Anyone interested in being involved is welcome.