It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of SCIA life member Ken Hutchison. Ken passed away peacefully on 14th August after a brief illness.
Ken sustained C6 quadriplegia in 1978, and during his rehabilitation at Prince Henry Hospital he met Robert McKenzie, who was a founding member of the Australian Quadriplegic Association (AQA), now known as Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA).
Shortly after, Ken became a member of SCIA and in the late 1980’s commenced working in the Geo and Data team on the road traffic accidents contract at Little Bay.
Most notably, Ken was one of the founding members of SCIA in the Illawarra Region in the mid 1980’s and was granted lifetime membership in 2019. Ken remained actively involved in peer support within the area and continued to attend the social group lunches on Thursdays. Every lunch he would ask ‘where are we going next?’ then he would always want to go to his favourite place- the Collegians Club. He loved his coffee and sticky date pudding after lunch.
Ken is known for his warm, friendly nature, and sharp sense of humor. He was a strong advocate for himself and others living with SCI and was always open to sharing his experiences after sustaining his injury to support others.
Ken was asked in 2017 what he would like others to know about living with a spinal cord injury and advised that “Life is not all over; you can still do things and there are so many activities out there that we can do. It might take some time after your injury to realise this, so persevere and you will eventually reap the rewards.” Ken made a huge impact to SCIA and those who were fortunate enough to know Ken and support him over the years. He will be sorely missed by the staff and peers at SCIA, and the wider spinal community.
I’ve only known Ken since the start of this year when I started going to the Thursday lunches but he had been so kind & welcoming me to the group. He is dearly missed 💔