Meet our Ambassadors
Blair Taylor
Blair Taylor was living life to the full - he had found his life partner, had a job he enjoyed and was involved in an active social and recreational life. All that changed when he decided not to wait for his workmate to hold his ladder. Everything he had built in his life came crashing down.
Blair grew up in New Zealand and had led an active sporting life from an early age. He shared his time between the inevitable Rugby Union commitments with a host of water activities including scuba diving, fishing and water skiing. Carpentry became his focus once leaving school and he completed a four year apprenticeship before embarking on a career that took him around New Zealand, out into the Pacific nations and finally to Sydney during the building boom leading up to the 2000 Olympic Games.
Finding Clare and moving in together was the culmination of a list of highs in his new life across the Tasman. Great job, great friends, great relationship - Blair’s life was perfect!
The day of his accident he headed off to work as usual, kissing Clare goodbye and promising to see her that evening. Arriving at work, Blair and his workmate were sent to complete a minor repair on some outside lining four metres up. After an initial inspection, Blair’s mate drove off to buy the required materials and Blair prepared the tools. Having completed the preparations, Blair felt self-conscious under the gaze of the owner. He decided to climb the ladder without his mate there to steady it.
His next memory was lying face down in a pool of blood. The ladder had slipped out from under him and Blair had landed on his feet with his knees locked. The weight of his head had compressed his spine and a piece of vertebrae had sheared off and severed his spinal cord.
A helicopter flight to Royal North Shore Hospital was followed by extensive surgery and months of rehabilitation. Ending of the relationship with Clare has made it all harder, as they decided to go separate ways. Following this setback, Blair threw himself into rehabilitation and finally was ready to rejoin the outside world. Securing accommodation through Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, Blair at first hid away from society until his thirst for companionship drew him to the nearest accessible hotel.
Now Blair shares his story to workers across Australia and he has even appeared on New Zealand TV. As he says; "If I can prevent just one injury by sharing my story then it is all worthwhile".
David Crawford 
David Crawford has a message with obvious relevance to any workplace. David was severely injured when he fell from a partly constructed roof on a Sydney building site. His story is all the more poignant because he had noticed what he believed to be problems with the structure which went uncorrected and brought about his accident.
David is now committed to spreading the word on workplace safety, delivering regular talks as an Ambassador for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia. His story begins with a warning – a warning that was ignored.
“A few days before the accident I had questioned the way the roof had been designed, saying that I thought there were issues - but I was told it would be fine”, David said.
“On the day of the accident I was walking across the rafters when one of them suddenly gave way and I fell about four metres to the ground. I was actually lucky not to have been killed because I landed right beside a row of exposed tree stumps which would have done terrible damage. As it was, the impact damaged the vertebrae in my neck at C6/C7 and I had to spend six weeks in traction before the area was fused and stabilised.”
David’s accident sparked a major review of building site safety which prompted new regulations covering scaffolding, harnesses and roof railings.
Before the accident David was living an energetic life as a qualified builder with many sporting interests including soccer, surfing, golf, and tennis. At the age of 27 he was also in a happy, long term relationship, engaged to be married. Unfortunately, the physical and emotional trauma of his accident created a lot of uncertainty about his future and the relationship didn’t survive.
Realising the physical limitations of his wheelchair David finished a building supervisor’s course and also attained qualifications in drafting. Despite his experience he encountered enormous difficulty in gaining any form of employment in the building industry. David was determined to maintain a positive attitude and so changed direction by joining with his brother to open a motor vehicle repair business which has gone from strength to strength.
“I was forced to make a lot of adjustments and that was only possible because of the enormous support I got from my family, especially my parents”, he said.
“One positive aspect, if there is any, is that I now take nothing for granted. Every day is a new challenge and it’s a matter of every day striving to achieve something bigger and better”, David said.
John Wade
In January 2004, John Wade, a veteran scuba diver with forty years experience and a Dive Master certificate, was looking forward to an enjoyable days diving with his wife Emmie, and some close friends. They took a short boat trip out from Durras Beach on the NSW south coast, heading for a popular reef in about 30 metres of water. The depth wasn’t a problem for John but it was pushing the limit for his wife and her inexperienced companion.
Strong, swirling current and very poor visibility made the experience even worse and prompted Emmie to insist on an early return to the boat. If John had followed accepted procedure and calculated the amount of time he could spend in deep water during his second dive, there would have been no serious consequences.
Unfortunately he didn’t. He ignored safety precautions during a dive with two novices, believing his skills would see him through. While he ensured the two inexperienced divers survived a day of treacherous conditions, he failed to monitor his own time on the ocean floor and suffered an attack of ‘the bends’. Despite later treatment in a special recompression chamber, a small bubble of nitrogen lodged against his spinal cord just below the shoulder blades, rendering him a paraplegic. John’s message is now straight to the point:
“I didn’t even bother to look at the regulation timetables which tell you how much time you can safely spend at which depth. Because I had done it so often I assumed I was within the acceptable limits – but I was wrong,” John said.
“As a result I’ve lost the normal use of my legs. One act of complacency was enough to change my life, and the lives of everyone around me forever”, he said.
At the time John was newly retired and planning a wonderful new life with his wife Emmie, touring Australia in a four-wheel-drive and enjoying popular scuba diving sites along the coastline.
Although doctors initially insisted that he would never walk again, John proved them wrong with a determined program of physiotherapy and special exercises. He is now able to walk short distances with a walking stick and only uses a wheelchair for longer periods when required. Like the majority of spinal cord injury patients he suffers a wide variety of problems caused by the extensive neurological damage.
However, John is justifiably proud of his remarkable recovery and just as proud of his role as an ambassador.
“I welcome the opportunity to get out into the workplace and spread the message about obeying the rules and doing things the safe way. I’m more than happy to use my experience as an example and convince people not to be complacent or take shortcuts in the way they go about their work – it’s just not worth the risk”, John said.
Mark Marchiori
Mark Marchiori knows exactly how it feels to be lucky to be alive. His heart stopped three times and his family was told to say their goodbyes. He suffered severe brain and spinal cord damages after being hit by a tree that had fallen from the logging machine. “I was knocked out cold, which has given me a period of time that does not exist is my life today. Family and friends have filled in the blank spots, as they saw the trauma I was going through.”
Before the accident Mark couldn’t have been happier with the life he was living. Mark is a farm manager and tree feller, “I liked being in the bush. It allowed me to see nature and how flora and fauna develop as the season’s changed”. Over the years he gained enough experience and skills to open his own timber business. Mark’s professional success was followed by the important personal achievement – marrying Genevieve. He felt like he was on cloud nine. And then one day his life changed forever.
“It was Monday, the start of the week, as the sun rose I was on my way to the bush and we logged all day. After finishing tree felling for the day I was waiting for a workmate using the skidder to drag the last few logs to the dump. As his workmate drove down the track, he brushed a sapling which fell and then hit me.”
Mark was transported to the Tamworth hospital where a piece of his skull was removed to relieve pressure on his brain. After being stabilised he was airlifted to the John Hunter hospital. For the next two weeks he was on high dependency and doctors were uncertain about his future. “They said the next time I crash, the machines would be turned off. It never happened”.
On the day of the accident Genevieve was 21 weeks pregnant. Mark was still in a hospital when their baby girl was born. That event made him realize that he can’t give up on life as he still had many things to live for. The rehabilitation process took a further four months and Mark was finally able to come back home. Nine months after the accident.
Now he is a full-time dad, enjoying every moment spent with Victoria. Day-to-day tasks are still very challenging but every little achievement gives Mark more and more confidence. And the support he gets from his family and friends helps him to overcome all the difficulties.
“It takes a long time to get used to the changes. But I must admit its better than I ever thought it could be. Joining Teamsafe and public speaking is now giving me a new focus. I hope to make a difference to some guy’s work practises. There is light at the end of the tunnel”.
Paul Bailey
Thursday, the 8th of February was just a normal day on site. Paul was looking forward to meeting up with a friend to go fishing later on that afternoon. He was just about to leave when he got a phone call. It was his foreman asking for help moving an 850 kg switchboard off the truck. It was a standard procedure so he thought nothing could go wrong…
“My understanding was that they had discussed everything, all the safety procedures were in place, the board was slung correctly and we were just going to move it down on the trolley to get it to the position.
They didn’t and a few seconds later Paul was lying on the ground under 850 kg. Luckily the board went down creating a gap where his head was, squashing the rest of the body. Paul felt like his days were over, “I thought when they will take the board off me I am just going to bleed internally and die. I remember asking my mate to say goodbye to my wife and kids.”
Five hours later he was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, which holds the only spinal unit in Queensland. He was diagnosed with 11 fractured ribs, a punched lung, burst T12 vertebrae and a snapped leg.
After being operated on, Paul spent few weeks in the spinal unit before taking up physiotherapy. He couldn’t stand sitting around doing nothing all day, so to keep busy he attended a course and obtained a drivers licence to drive with hand controls. After two months he was allowed to go home for the weekends and a few weeks later left the hospital. Having learnt the basics of his new life, Paul decided to buy a car to be more independent.
Another huge breakthrough in his life was going to America to attend Project Walk, a program aimed to re-train the damaged nervous system through exercises. A few months later, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia started Walk On, a program based on the exact methodology, and chose Brisbane as its first location. “It has improved my life dramatically. I’ve built a lot more core strength. It has been great psychologically, just to be exercising all parts of the body, especially below the waist which I never thought I would be able to do. Unfortunately, I probably won’t walk again but I accepted that from the start. But thanks to Walk On I can ride an exercise bike or get to the walking frame and stumble around for about 5 minutes.”
As his newest challenge Paul became an ambassador for the SCIA Teamsafe program with the aim to reduce complacency and prevent accidents like his from happening in workplaces around Australia. “Nothing is going to ever prepare you for a spinal cord injury but what it is all about, is how you deal with the change and how you can move forward in life. I think the most important thing is to stay positive,”
Rhys Tappenden
As a fit young builder, Rhys was doing his usual weekend activities – riding motorcross since he had done from the age of 12. It was a way of de-stressing and keeping active – he had his moments, maybe a couple of scrapes and bruises, but otherwise it was relatively not that dangerous…. Besides he was ten-foot tall and bullet-proof.
It was one of those events when you want to do your best to show everybody what you are made of and Rhys was really looking forward to be a part of it. His first two races went well but he thought he could do better in the next one. “I got on the bike, started up, got to the gates, engine running. I still remember the roar of the machines”. He was running 5th place, after two laps moved to the 4thand he could still see the chance of being higher up.
“I went up over the table top, I could see the 3rd guy and I decided to click up another gear. As I did that, I gone up high and hit the mud pit and smacked the back of my head. There was a massive flash in my eyes, I thought I decapitated myself.”
Rhys had just enough power to lift his hand and call a flag marshal. He tried to sit up but he couldn’t. He was out of breath, with chipped teeth in his mouth. But the worst thing was the pain around his neck, both arms down to his hands. Paramedics asked him if he could move his legs but he couldn’t. “From that moment I knew I was in a world of pain and it is going to be hard work from now on”.
For Rhys and Amanda they did not give up, after six-months in hospital and rehab, they chanced upon Spinal Cord Injuries Australia’s Walk On program, which had just started to open in Brisbane. After two-weeks of intensive exercise physiotherapy, they knew this was their chance for recovering some physical function. So they moved permanently to Brisbane to ensure Walk On was part of their future plans.
Nowadays, as a quadriplegic Rhys can independently transfer in and out of his car, play wheelchair rugby few times a week, and help look after Olivia, their newborn baby. “I feel I am not so much a burden on anyone, and building more confidence everyday, thanks to Walk On,” He is also back on site, working on his own house building project, and delivering Teamsafe presentations, “that’s pretty much where I set my goals, to be able to look after the whole family, financially and physically, that’s my biggest goal.”
Robyn Ryan
Robyn Ryan has an important message that could help others avoid the type of life-shattering event which put her in a wheelchair. As a Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Ambassador she relishes the opportunity to join people in their place of work and talk through the many safety issues which affect their everyday lives. For Robyn, life changed dramatically in 1975 when she was a student nurse, just 17 years old, and fast asleep.
“It was during our annual holidays and I was travelling from Sydney back home to Lismore in my boyfriend’s car. We were accompanied by his brother who was too young to drive and, because I had no experience in a manual car, my boyfriend decided to do the12 hour drive in one go, stopping only for petrol. After keeping him company until late at night, I fell asleep on the back seat, which in those days was not required to have a seat belt. It was 2 am and only 40 kilometres from our destination when he fell asleep at the wheel, ran off the road and crashed.”
The driver escaped from the accident uninjured while the younger brother was later treated and released from the casualty section at Lismore Hospital with minor injuries. Robyn suffered severe damage to her lower spine at level T/12 and was flown by air ambulance to Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.
After 5 months in hospital she returned home to her parents in a wheelchair as a complete paraplegic.
“Apart from undergoing extensive periods of rehabilitation, the two hardest things for me were changing my career and suffering a break up with my boyfriend. But everything slowly turned around as I managed to finish my HSC, complete a course in Social Welfare and regain personal independence with a modified car”.
Now, married with two children, Robyn works in the administration section of a private welfare agency and looks forward to her regular presentations as an ambassador.
“I really enjoy the chance to meet people socially or at their place of work to share my story. It’s terrific to get the feedback and know you are making a difference”, Robyn said.
“I was injured at a young age and I want to make young people aware that they are not invincible. I want to encourage them to speak up and not fall down due to peer pressure. I want people to think about the risks they take, to think about their responsibilities and to pass on my experiences”.
Russel Fawcett
When Russel was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1978 all members of his family were devastated and rushed to his support. They even moved house to be closer to the hospital, with both parents changing jobs and his brothers and sister changing schools. Memories of that love and dedication remain with Russel, along with feelings of guilt about the disruption caused to so many lives.
At the age of 17, living on the South Island of New Zealand, the future was looking good for Russel. He had been accepted into the air force as a trainee pilot and knew that after just 3 more months working in the local abattoir he would start the career of his dreams. Unfortunately, several factors conspired against him, including long work hours, a determination to stay up late at night with friends and the unpredictable surface of the local main road.
“I can remember my dad always telling us that we couldn’t expect to work all day and stay up every night, but I was just looking forward to enjoying the rest of my life and didn’t listen”, Russel said.
“One morning I was travelling to work on my trail bike, not going fast and wearing all the usual safety gear, but I was dead tired and struggling to concentrate. I hit a patch of road gravel and the wheels just slid away, throwing me into the only metal guide post within miles. I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I remember was being treated by an ambulance crew and feeling intense pain in my back”.
Russel was told he had seriously damaged his spinal cord and would be a T8 paraplegic for life. His four month stay in hospital was made easier by the close proximity of his devoted family, living in a caravan parked close by. Determined to rebuild his life Russel accepted a job as an office worker in the abattoir and trained to become a senior supervisor but not everything went to plan.
“When I was 22 years old I came back to earth with a big crunch. My girlfriend and I were living together but after spending so much time helping and supporting me she couldn’t handle it anymore, and she just left. So, I decide to make a list of all my good points and bad points. I ended up with one column of positives, but unfortunately the negative column went over the page and kept on going. I knew I had to change”.
From that day onwards Russel started working on the negatives in his life, changing attitudes and behaviour until they were on the positive side of the page. Soon afterwards he moved to Australia and established his own company in project management.
“I see the ambassador’s role as great way to pass on what I have learnt about fully understanding yourself and how to relate to others. I believe I am now a much better person and I would like to help others reach the same level of understanding without suffering painful experiences”, Russel said.
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