Ray
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.
Ray is in prison. He sustained an acquired brain injury when another prisoner punched him in the head.
‘Since then I experience pain, memory problems and difficulty speaking,’ Ray told the Royal Commission. ‘I have PTSD, anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder, panic attacks, suicidal ideation, and nightmares since the assault.’
Ray said that when he was discharged from hospital after the attack, he was placed in a lockdown unit for more than a year ‘to put [him] out of everybody's way’.
‘In there I was miss out talking to normal people, just conversation which I needed in early days because the way my speech is.’
Ray said he needed speech therapy to help him ‘find the words again’, but being isolated in the lockdown unit ‘wasn’t a help at all’.
‘I was put in a corner and told to shut up and that was that. Being in that unit, a lot of education program people don’t like coming down there.’
Ray said he asked for access to a speech therapist, but it took ‘maybe two years’ to happen.
‘Then, I only had three meetings on video with the therapist. I still need more help.’
He asked for physiotherapy for an arm injury.
‘They can’t fix it … it doesn’t work right … They gave me an injection in the neck for it, but it didn't cure it at all.’
Ray also wanted to speak to a psychologist.
‘There is a nurse that I can talk to monthly, but only if I'm really bad.’
He said it was an ongoing battle to get his disabilities treated in prison.
‘For drug users, they give them a lot of help, like methadone, but they don't go helping people like me with a brain problem.’
Ray is worried about how he’ll cope when he’s eventually released.
‘There is no way I'm going to have a normal life when I get out that's for sure. It's going to be hard.’
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.