Conal
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.
‘All I've wanted to do is be who I am and be a good husband and a good dad and, you know, part of my community and neighbourhood.’
Conal is in his 50s and has a traumatic brain injury from a car crash about 30 years ago.
Conal said he remembers the hospital discharging him a few months after the crash because it needed his bed.
‘The neurosurgeon sent me home with my parents and really with practically no, you know, sort of preparation for my parents and my friends … it was practically they said, “Look just don't let him wander off.”’
Conal said no-one told him then that he had ‘what they called high executive dysfunction’.
‘My dad … the only way he could describe it was that his son died in the car accident and that the young man who returned to the home after the accident was not his son.’
Conal was eventually given an insurance payout, but no support to manage the money.
‘My mum says I gave all the money away, but I can't imagine who you'd give that amount of money to. It was, you know, it was quite a lot of money … I mean I can't work it out. It still doesn't make any sense to me.’
Conal struggled to return to work and keep his relationships. He ended up in prison because he couldn’t control his behaviour.
‘I never would have imagined I would go to prison … They knew that I wasn't mentally ill, but they didn't know what to do with me because like I wasn't behaving the way they wanted me to behave.’
Conal told the Royal Commission he received no support in prison for his ABI and on one occasion a psychiatrist gave him antipsychotic medication.
‘They gave me horrific panic attacks. I reckon it took me 18 months to two years to recover from that forced injection.’
Conal said it was only in recent years that a neurologist told him he should have received rehabilitation after the car crash.
The NDIS now supports Conal, but he said he still finds it ‘very hard to function’.
‘Like I do my best to be my best … but I've been to prison at least four times now, you know. And that's pretty horrible, man.’
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.