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December 2011 – The journey begun. After being in the hospital for the past 3 months suffering from gunshot wounds that caused my paralysis, I had lost my independence. I was unable to do even the most basic things for myself which resulted in my depression & anger. I was transferred to another facility where I began Occupational Therapy at The OT Clinic because I wanted to gain back my independence. And that’s what O.T. does, it teaches you how to help yourself. However, it was not easy & that made me angrier. Luckily for me I had a very good therapist who not only taught me how to do physical things but also counselled me & departed words of wisdom from her experience with others, therefore she understood what I was going through & also because of her caring nature.
     My hands are unable to form a fist so therefore I was unable to grip things. So she made me many special devices to assist me. My first & best device I was made is called a universal cuff. Which I can stick items in it, like my toothbrush & utensils to use eat. That guaranteed that people would stay out of my mouth which was something I really hated, especially having them brush my teeth. We would work on strengthening exercises to build back my muscle mass which I had lost. It also teaches balancing which enabled me to sit up again without falling. I had devices to use on my gadgets like my computer, phone, iPad etc., device to write with, button my clothes, to use put on my clothes, to reach far items, to use push my wheelchair & many more.
     If you can think it O.T. can offer it. One of the hardest thing I ever had to learn was transferring from one surface to another. I was shown a video of a paraplegic doing his transfer & it made me so angry that I just shut down. I was angry because I couldn’t believe I had been reduced to this condition & worst because I wasn’t able to do it myself. However my therapist spoke to me about it & kept on pushing me not allowing me to give up. Eventually I learned to do my transfer also. Over the course of the years I was made many devices to assist in my every-day life which makes it much easier to regain more & more of my independence.
     Occupational Therapy is rare in Jamaica & therefore many are not aware of it. And therefore their lives are being wasted having to depend on others for everything not being able to do it themselves. I was one of the lucky ones to be introduced to it because without it life would be so hard. I shudder to think that I would have to spend my life wasting away in bed not being able to be even a fraction of who & what I use to be. Doing the exercise is one thing & it’s very important but having the right therapist with the right attitude & personality makes it so much easier to learn. I am still fighting the good fight but thanks be to God I can smile because O.T. taught me that, MY CONDITION IS NOT MY CONCLUSION.
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-Simone Collings-