“The support I needed completely changed.” A wheelchair user on the impact of a broken arm

I’ve been a wheelchair user for around four years since sustaining a spinal-cord injury. Having given myself some time to adjust, I’ve been lucky enough to find a way to do almost every activity that I did before my injury. Everything is still possible, even though it may look a bit different. With the right mindset, attitude and, of course, the right supports, there is always a way.

However, something I didn’t anticipate in my journey of adjustment and acceptance was the effect that further, temporary injury and disability could possibly have.

A few weeks ago I was riding my adaptive mountain bike with some friends on trails which were unfamiliar to all of us. During this ride, my bike tipped over while I was turning a corner. I came down hard on my right hand side. My mates and I checked the bike and my body for damage, but without proper sensation throughout my lower body, it was hard to assess whether an injury had occurred.

Due to a lack of sensation in my forearm - combined with shock and the support my bike riding splint provides to my arm - none of us realised that I had broken my forearm. We continued riding trails until we got back to the car. It was then, when we took the riding splint off, that we realised the extent of the damage.

Immediately I began imagining the impact this injury would have to my short-term function. I also thought about the recovery involved, as well as the challenges it would pose to plans that I had over the near future. I have dealt with a number of injuries in the past, so I knew all too well what this would mean. Unfortunately, this one occurred just days before I was able to return to driving after four years of being unable to do so. The timing was almost comically frustrating.

My friends and I drove immediately to the hospital and, long story short, it needed plates and screws to stabilise the break. Broken arms are frustrating - there’s no doubt about that – and I’d argue that broken arms as a wheelchair user are doubly so. 

As a wheelchair user, not only do you use your arms in whatever modified way you need to - to do daily tasks such as eating, drinking and cleaning teeth - they also act as your method of locomotion. Due to my high level of spinal-cord injury I have no core balance, so I use my arms to prop and move my upper body around constantly throughout the day.

In reality, the impact of my dominant arm being immobilised was trickier than I had imagined. It made tasks that I was usually able to do extremely difficult. I had to go back to the drawing board in order to find ways to get through the day independently - as I did when I first sustained my spinal-cord injury.

The entire way I had set up my home environment, the way I engaged with work, the way I did things and the support I needed completely changed over the recovery period.

I had to inform the NDIS of a change in my circumstances, as my support needs had temporarily increased. I had to budget and plan out the supports that I needed for the remainder of my NDIS plan. Being self-managed afforded me some flexibility here, but it also required some hefty administration on my part.

Luckily I found a great support worker through Hireup to help me during this time and managed to return to work and fit in a week-long work trip, even with the added support that I required due to my broken arm. I was able to engage with my interstate colleagues in person for the first time since the COVID lockdown last year.

This experience really refreshed my memory about how much somebody can adapt and overcome things. When I first had my spinal-cord injury, it took me a long time to figure out the best ways for me to engage with my environment and achieve things as best I can. Over time, I had taken some of the functionality that my body has for granted.

Having my most functional arm taken out of action for a number of weeks made me so thankful for the things I can do and the independence I can have.