Having been taken to a psychologist in the ‘80s and having them tell my mother, “He cannot be helped until he’s ready to help himself,” certainly did nothing to deal with what was later diagnosed as bipolar. I think I was 8 or 9 when the first instance occurred. My family decided to listen to the professional and basically wrote me off until I did something about it, so growing up was fun and saw me leave home at 14.

I learned to deal with things by self-medicating and spent the next 31 years lost and oblivious. I was a high-functioning alcoholic, partied almost every night, and never missed a day of work. I led a debaucherous life, with no concern for my own welfare, promiscuity, gangs, fights, whatever it took to survive, really. My mental health issues exacerbated my addiction, and vice versa.

In 2016, on another bender, I went out to party and ended up in the hospital with a broken tibia and dislocated foot and ankle. This marked the first of many hospital visits to deal with the issue. Five surgeries ended in an amputation of my lower left leg in 2021 and the subsequent years of recovery. I had to learn to walk on a prosthesis, shower on one leg, drive again, and everything else I had taken for granted throughout my life.

This incident forced me to evaluate my life, and in 2019, I put myself in rehab for a month and haven’t had alcohol or drugs ever since. I faced what was ahead of me with the survival mode I’d been in all my life, finding a way to rise and get through it. With the knowledge of an amputation ahead, I looked for help and came across Dima through an agency that she used to work for. I had no idea of the help I would need, but Dima knew, and boy has she made my life easier.

Have you ever been in a position in life where you have no idea what’s in store and come across that one person who seems to know and assist you beyond belief? Since meeting Dima, my life has gone from strength to strength. I have jumped on trampolines and done back flips and somersaults with my prosthetic, I have joined and still play wheelchair basketball and wheelchair AFL, bought and rode an unmodified Harley Davidson, and I live every day to the best of my ability. While it’s my attitude and determination that see me rise and keep moving forward, it’s the team behind me that encourages and supports all of this.

I have told Dima many times that my life is the best it’s ever been, and I needed to lose a limb in order to see every possibility in front of me. I’ve also told her that if it wasn’t for her, I would not be where I am today. She knew what I needed, and when I had no idea, she found things for me to do when I said I wanted to try things. In reality, Dima made the darkest of days shine brightly. In a time when I thought I would be totally lost, I have more direction, extremely clear at that, than I even considered possible.

We are only as strong as the team around us, and I spent my youth surrounded by family, yet completely alone, whereas I am spending my late 40s and now heading into my 50s, being seen, being heard, and being encouraged, and let me tell you, it makes a difference to one’s quality of life