Having a support system is essential for anyone with a spinal cord injury, says Fizel Devries who was paralysed nearly 30 years ago when he was shot.
With International Spinal Cord Injury Day (ISCI) having been observed on September 5, Mr Devries, who has worked at the Department of Health’s Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre (WCRC) in Lentegeur for the past 15 years, shared his story.
The WCRC provides specialised, high-intensity rehabilitation and community-reintegration programmes for people with physical disabilities and spinal cord injuries.
Mr Devries, 43, the Information Management Clerk at WCRC has been living with a spinal cord injury since he was in matric when was caught in crossfire outside a nightclub in 1995.
He was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with a spinal cord injury and permanent paralysis. He underwent rehabilitation treatment at Conradie Hospital in 1995, but became mentally depressed because of his mobility limitations.
“I was young and in school when I got shot outside the nightclub. I was standing in the queue when we heard gunshots and I was the only one still standing while everyone else was lying down. My friends asked me if I am okay and touched my back. That’s when I felt this warm sensation on my back, collapsed and was rushed to hospital,” he said.
Adri Visser, chief physiotherapist at WCRC, said statistics that the team at centre captured between September 2021 and August 2022, showed that about 40% of people treated at WCRC for spinal cord injuries had been involved in interpersonal violence, such as gunshot wounds and stabbings.
The remaining spinal injury cases are from motor vehicle accidents, falls, TB spine, and other traumatic and non-traumatic incidents.
WCRC has a 240-bed capacity to treat and rehabilitate persons with stroke or head injuries, spinal cord afflictions, and amputations.
Out of the 240 beds, 78 are allocated to persons with spinal cord injuries. Between September 2021 and August 2022 the facility rehabilitated 130 spinal cord injuries related to interpersonal violence in the province. Many of these patients treated were men aged between 26 to 35 transferred from and referred by healthcare facilities in the Cape Town Metropole.
“We have a multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team that assesses each case referred to us before we plan a rehabilitation programme for the person,” said Ms Visser.
“The rehabilitation treatment plan and length of stay is usually between eight to 12 weeks, but the patient can remain longer in care depending on the injury and mental health status, family support, and healing process.”
Recalling his rehabilitation experience, Mr Devries said: “After six months of rehabilitation treatment, it was difficult for me to accept that I won’t be able to live a normal life again.”
He was referred to Astra school for the physically disabled in Montana by a social worker to complete his matric.
At first, he didn’t want to attend school but made a friend – a “support buddy” – at the school whom he could relate to and who encouraged him to pull through mentally.
“I started learning about other types of disabilities which changed my perception of my disability. I am a paraplegic, with limited mobility and I matriculated, which made me realise that I have a future and I am not going to let my disability defeat me,” said Mr Devries.
After he matriculated, he lived with his mother and grandmother in Stellenbosch and struggled to find work.
Mr Devries remained in contact with his “support buddy” and later decided to move in with his friend at a Chesire house in the northern suburbs, which is a home for paraplegics and quadriplegics in Cape Town.
He joined the QuadPara Association of South Africa for further support with his disability and was determined to find a job and applied for a position as an information management clerk at WCRC. He was a successful candidate and 15 years later he is still enjoying his working career at the Department of Health where he has access to a strong support system.
“We often find that the patients we rehabilitate live in environments that do not accommodate their disability. In Fizel’s case, he made the conscious decision to move to another environment that accommodated his disability, and he had a good family and social support structure,” said Ms Visser.
“To mitigate these community challenges that our patients face, we design and create wheelchairs that are better suited to rougher terrain for those living in shack or backyard dwelling homes. We have an outdoor obstacle course to teach them how to operate their chairs in their home terrain.”
Organisations such as the QuadsPara Association of South Africa (www.qasa.co.za) and government institutions such as the Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre (www.wcrc.co.za) are available to provide support to persons with disabilities and their families.
