Jensen
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
‘It’s almost like now the disability and medical sector are at each other’s throats.’
Jensen is a First Nations man in his 30s. He has an acquired brain injury from an accident when he was 13.
Jensen told the Royal Commission that, as an adult, he was ‘conned into some unnecessary surgery’ that left him in a wheelchair.
After his experiences in hospital, he became a disability advocate.
‘You know, to have no support at that stage, for there really to be no-one within the hospital that could actually come and advocate for me based on the disability stuff, was really quite scary.’
Jensen said people with disability often struggled to find support in the health system.
‘I find that really trying to access government services, supports and other sort of things the government should equitably provide to every citizen, not just you know a select cohort, it’s very, very difficult as a disabled person to often access a lot of those services.’
Jensen told the Royal Commission that after the surgery that put him in a wheelchair, he returned to hospital several times to try to fix it.
‘It was just a mess, you know. From one doctor yelling at me while saying that I shouldn’t be in a wheelchair and if I tried to walk I could, other doctors just treating me like … somebody without any brain capacity. And, you know, if I was to bring a support person I would be completely ignored and often the support person would be communicated with.’
One night, Jensen was talking to a First Nations hospital liaison officer.
‘It was past visiting hours, of course she works at the hospital, and one of the nurses comes up and says “Oh, sorry, you have to leave. Visiting hours are over” and she actually had the name tag [with] the hospital’s name but, yes, she basically just got fobbed off because people didn’t think that she was an employee at the hospital.’
Jensen said the health system labelled him a ‘frequent flyer’ because of his frequent visits to hospital.
‘These are often people with a lot of comorbidities, disability, perhaps drug and alcohol issues, a very complex cohort that are regularly appearing in hospitals and often once you’re labelled as a frequent flyer, as I was … you get treated really badly. From being denied medical treatment, not being believed, being accused of being an opioid seeker.’
He said that instead of the health system being an ally, people with disability became ‘another burden [in a] cruel cog caught in the wheel of government’.
Jensen said that after several failed attempts to repair the damage that put him in a wheelchair, the hospital was reluctant to extend his rehabilitation.
‘You end up in the scenario where you’re already being neglected in the acute system, you’re neglected in the rehab system and then you’re almost left in a scenario where the disability sector then has to pick up all these pieces and you’re actually sort of a bit behind the eight ball.’
The hospital discharged Jensen and, unable to find anywhere that could support him, sent him to a nursing home.
‘It was not the right place [for a person with disability]. It does get very depressing when you’re in an aged care facility. You know, basically [people] that become your friends are constantly dying on you.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.