Getting My Hands Dirty
My name is David Burt. I am a qualified horticulturalist. We lived in Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia. I love plants and flowers – I love growing vegetables and knowing exactly how they grow. I loved my job. Being outside every day was so close to nature. Every day was hot but I like heat. I loved my working environment and my colleagues were great. They taught me a lot – including my boss. I also enjoyed the beach and fishing – and the social aspect of living in Broome with my partner Liz.
I don’t remember a lot of what happened next. On November 24th 2006 I know I was trimming a coconut tree and that is all I remember. Apparently the cherry-picker collapsed and I hit my head from 7 metres. I had a severe brain injury – I don’t know much about what happened but I am told they had to drill a hole in my head to measure the pressure. I was transferred to Perth and spent more than two weeks in ICU at Royal Perth, before going to the Head Injury Ward and then on to Shenton Park Rehab. Later I flew to the Brain Injury Unit at Westmead Hospital in Sydney where both our families live. Liz was beside me all the time. There were some good people in rehabilitation but I was in hospitals for a very long time (ten months altogether) so it was terrible. I had to learn everything again.
In September 2007 I came home to our new unit. Liz helped me relearn everything again. I am very grateful to her. At first it was difficult to get out of bed – I just wanted to stay there all day. But, I thought – this is stupid. I am wasting my life. My legs work ok, my brain still works (what’s left of it) – I need to get out of bed. And so I did – and haven’t looked back since.
One of the best instigations was the Community Garden. The Community Garden is in Wentworthville and it is open to the paid members. Everybody comes down every Saturday and gets to use a plot. When I first started going there I tried to look at plants in the garden and think about the best ones to grow. Initially Liz did more of the propagating. I was the advisor and Liz was the labourer – but now I do both – advise myself and I do everything. I water, pick and decide what plants to put in next.
It took a while to build up my social courage. My speech is not the best, but the more I talk to people the better I get. It’s come to a point where people are actually inviting us back to their house for dinner.
My advice to all people with injuries is – just get out and do it. If your legs move and your hands move – do it. If there is something you love - do it.
Growing plants is the same as making your brain grow! Getting my hands dirty makes me feel satisfied and happy. It makes me feel normal.
David dictated this to his Speech Pathologist 18/6/2010