It was my 46th birthday on February 14, 2024. That was the day my employer filed an appeal on my workers compensation decision. Happy birthday to me. I survive a horrific accident, various people would react as if what I went through was a simple fender bender.

Today marks 8 months since my accident. 7 months of grueling physiotherapy. 7 months of counseling/therapy. While I have made some improvement in my recovery there is reason to believe that I will never regain a complete range of motion in my arm that was broken in three places. Workers Compensation had to move forward with transferring my file to long term disability and Vocational Rehabilitation.

This was no fender bender.

This was a horrific event and only God knows why nobody died.

The support I have receive I greatly appreciate. This is by no means to minimize what support I have received.

That being said,

I still need support, practical support among other things:

1. Financial Support. I am meeting with a Psychologist. This is ongoing. I meet with this Psychologist every other week. The appointments cost me just a little over $200.
   • My Case Worker has rejected the idea of sending me for a Psychiatric Assessment following this accident. If there is an aggravation to my mental health as a direct result from the accident I should qualify for compensation. And, of course, if there is a new psychiatric condition that can be reasonably assessed as a direct result and have arisen out of this accident I would qualify for compensation. Not only would I qualify for compensation but this injury to my mental health should be properly listed as an injury on my list of claim injuries. This would then provide additional resources. However, my Case Worker has worked against me in this. She has worked against me in this, against my GP in this and also against my Workers Compensation Appointed Counselor in this.
2. Practical Support in the way of donated foods. If people are unwilling to help financially I will not decline the help of donated food items.
   • Donated foods have helped in my ability to use the money I receive from compensation towards my appointments with the psychologist. That said, currently I can only afford to meet with her every other week. It would be ideal to meet on a weekly basis but due to financial strain I am meeting with her every other week.
   • There is the possibility that compensation will reimburse me but at this point it really all depends on whether or not my case worker will listen to a 3rd professional opinion on the matter and move forward with additional resources towards this diagnosis. Unfortunately, compensation moves slow in addressing mental health following horrific events. This often times causes disruption in Vocational Rehabilitation. It is for this reason why I have had to pay out of pocket for therapy.
3. Emotional Support and Prayer Support.
   • Finding emotional support has been the most challenging. People underestimate just how much their presence can impact others. Often times we don’t know what to say or how to respond. So there is a deafening silence.
   • Somebody close to me made the decision to distance themselves from me because what they heard was too much. The irony is, what they heard is only a fraction of what I am going through. If what they hear is too much, imagine living it. If they can’t handle hearing a fraction of what I am going through or have been through, they wouldn’t be able to live through it.
   • I believe in the power of prayer. I believe it was nothing short of a miracle I survived. Seconds before the impact, when I knew there was no way around escaping from this impact I let out this one prayer, “God help us all” I should have died. Somebody should have died that day.

I just received a call from the Workers Advisory Office. The Advisory assigned to my case informed me that the Compensation Review Board has denied my Employers Appeal. This means that I will continue to receive support from the workers compensation board. My employer can make the decision to escalate this matter to an independent review board. I think they have 30 days to file. However, this is a losing case for my employer.

There is much more I would like to share but this update currently is pretty lengthy. I will have another update for you next week. Thank you for your support. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to make room to be present for me and for any support you are able to extend. People underestimate just how damaging such an event can have in a persons life and how life altering it is to survive the type of accident and injuries I have sustained. I’ve been in recovery now for 8 months, still pushing through physio and still pushing through therapy, still experiencing significant pain. Still feeling isolated and alone, depressed and working through suicidal ideation. The more support and resources I receive and the help needed to rebuild my life the better I am emotionally and mentally.