IT’S just like any other family posing for a photo. Six-year-old Charli stands, waiting for the rest of her family to get in position.
Her dad walks up beside her, stands next to her and casually puts his right arm around her.
Being only as tall as dad’s waist, Charli cuddles him with both hands as hard as she can, nuzzling her head into his side with the biggest and cutest grin imaginable.
The remarkable thing about that story is Charli’s dad is Jason Dean who, 14 months ago, was told he would never again stand, let alone walk, again.
A freakish jumping castle accident on grand final day last year left the North Bendigo father of three a paraplegic.
He was told he would never again have any feeling or movement below his shoulders.
Yet, while talking to the Bendigo Weekly this week he sat in his wheelchair, swiping away flies with his right hand as he talked.
When it was time for the photo he asked if we would prefer him to stand up.
That question alone should be proof enough that miracles do happen and they take a lot of hard work from a lot of people.
“I was originally told I wasn’t going to move anything from the shoulders down,” Jason said.
“With constant rehab I am now able to stand and walk short distances with a frame, and transfer in and out of bed with minimum
assistance.”
Jason stayed in the Austin Hospital until January 24 this year when he was able to be treated at Bendigo Health’s John Lindell Rehabilitation Unit.
He finally left hospital on September 4, after more than 11 months’ treatment.
Jason’s wife, Shannon, is in little doubt about the benefit of the Bendigo rehab unit to his recovery.
“Jason’s walking wouldn’t have happened without the continued rehab at Bendigo,” she said.
“It is definitely a great place. They have all the brains up there.
“They are amazing people who are thinking 24-7 about how they can improve every patient and their outcome.
“They just need a little help with the equipment side of things to make life a little easier for the patients.”
With increased fundraising, the rehab unit will be able to help more people like Jason get the treatment they need closer
to home.
“It was great to be back with my family. When I was in Melbourne it was great to see them but you knew they had to leave,” Jason said.
“When I came back to Bendigo, being based here meant I could come home for dinner and go back to the hospital to sleep and have rehab.
“I also used to sit outside looking at all the familiar cars going past, seeing all the business names on the side of them and knowing the people driving them.
“I knew the area, I knew the people and I knew the streets.”
Jason believes with more equipment, more patients will have similar positive outcomes.
“I’ve got footage of when they got me up on the sling over one of the machines and I was walking,” he said.
“They had a tracking system
machine on loan at the time. To have that permanently and for more people would be great.”
An operation on Jason’s left arm early next year will again see him need to enter hospital for intensive rehabilitation.
“My care is going to be higher for a number of weeks and it would be great to be able to get that in Bendigo and not have to go back to Melbourne again,” he said.
“They do a great job up there at the Anne Caudle and they need all the financial support they can get to help others.”
After hearing of Jason’s accident, the Bendigo community, as it does so often, rallied around his family.
A number of businesses and charity organisations donated their time and pooled their resources to raise more than $170,000 for the family to build a new, wheelchair-friendly house.
The slab for the house is expected to be poured before Christmas
“We owe so many people so much,” Shannon said.
“Including Bendigo rehab.”