Raelynn and Wynter
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.
Raelynn is a First Nations woman in her 60s.
About five years ago she had a stroke and was admitted to a hospital stroke rehabilitation unit. Wynter, her daughter, told the Royal Commission that Raelynn was ‘one of the poster people’ for the newly opened unit.
Raelynn had made great progress and regained her capacity to walk, but had not entirely recovered. ‘In all honesty,’ Wynter said, ‘[the hospital] actually pushed her out earlier because they wanted to promote their short time period.’
Raelynn moved to a nursing home while she waited for disability housing, on the understanding ‘all the rehabilitation’ would continue in transition care.
‘As soon as she got into transitioning care her daily therapy stopped immediately … so she started to immediately decline,’ Wynter said.
In the nursing home, Raelynn ‘was immediately cut off from her previous GPs’. This was difficult for Raelynn, who had experienced repeated sexual abuse as a younger woman. After the stroke, a lot of unfamiliar people were suddenly having ‘intensive access’ to her body. ‘[This] reopened a lot of trauma for her personally,’ said Wynter.
The hospital had given ‘extra consideration’ around female staff and ‘privacy issues’, but as ‘soon as she moved into the nursing home, that was completely ignored’.
‘If that understanding [of her needs] was there, that would alleviate a lot of deadly trauma that mum has to go through.’
An incident in the nursing home led to Raelynn being hospitalised for fractures in her leg. Wynter wanted her to have rehabilitation at the hospital so it would ‘be seen to properly’, but again there was ‘pressure to get her out’. This time Raelynn moved to the ‘highest care level nursing home’, with assurances ‘she would be given all of her rehabilitation’.
Again, this didn’t happen.
The physiotherapist at the new home refused to provide physio services. She said her insurance wouldn’t cover her to work with Raelynn because of her weight.
Meanwhile, the nursing home decided it was not work-safe for their staff to assist Raelynn to use the standing hoist, which was facilitating her to move short distances.
‘Never to be able to use the toilet again or to … shower properly or to sit in a normal chair. That one decision made an immediate halt to any of that.’
Raelynn’s rehabilitation immediately after the stroke had given her back the capacity to walk. Without ongoing physio she could not sustain that capacity. Now she was told she should ‘just accept that that was what was gonna happen, she was never gonna walk again’.
Wynter said staff exhibited a ‘quite aggressive attitude’ towards Raelynn.
‘She was told daily that she’s too fat … that “Because of your own self – it is your fault. Because of your weight you will never walk” which is an impossible situation to remedy if you’re stuck in a bed and you have no control over your eating habits or anything at all.’
Wynter believes staff ‘racially profiled’ her mother. When Wynter met the placement officer at the second nursing home, they asked ‘how did your mother get to this facility?’, then said ‘I don’t know how that happened’. ‘Because apparently it’s the top facility,’ Wynter said. The officer was ‘very rude’ and told her ‘your mother is very difficult’.
Wynter said the nursing home provided very little support to her mother. For example staff refused to assist her in and out of taxis, to clean or even help her use her crucial breathing machine. The home was charging for a 10-minute fortnightly massage – a service other residents seemed to get for free. The home had been ‘taking care of the entire disability pension’ but charging Wynter for ‘some basic things’. ‘I don’t seem to see [these things] happening to other residents within the nursing home,’ Wynter said.
Raelynn, however, is determined. ‘I’ve got things that I want to do before my times up,’ she said.
She recently watched Ash Barty on TV. Ash had a photo of Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
‘No-one’s pushing me anywhere. And I keep going and I’m gonna be like Ash Barty and I’ll go for that Olympic Gold … [my] story hasn’t come to an end yet.’
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.