WALK YOUR WAY TO WELLNESS
By Fouzi Jamhour and Colleen Kerr
Fouzi is a 50 year old man who sustained a severe traumatic brain injury when his head was crushed in a metal lathe in 2009. The rehabilitation pathway after brain injury is long and gruelling – but at almost three years after his injury Fouzi has found another long pathway - but this one is far more enjoyable! Fouzi and his care worker have joined the Fairfield Seniors Walking Group. At 50 Fouzi is officially the ‘baby’ of the group and he reflected today on his new walking ‘family’.
“I think I have been coming here for three months maybe? The group is increasing in number all the time – last time we had 14 people. Well, as you can see they have a lovely spirit. The way everyone talks it is like we have known each other for a long time”
Fouzi (pictured in the centre of the group at left) believes his fellow walkers in the Fairfield Seniors Walking Group have a unique friendship.
“Well age is a factor I think – I am the baby of the team as some of these people are over 80 or 85 years old. And they are still as fresh in themselves as a youth group! They walk no problem – but they have an energy inside themselves too. I have been accepted like their brother or their child. I don’t find myself like a stranger at all. Every time we have someone come in new and they don’t feel like strangers at all. And Charles is really lovely - he is a great leader”
Charles Gream has been coordinating the Fairfield Seniors Walking Group since October 2009 – originally under the banner of the Area Health Service but now as a registered Heart Foundation Walking Group. Charles ‘jumped’ at the chance to lead the group after participating in some UNSW research studies into the many health benefits of walking and he has been thrilled to see someone like Fouzi continuing his recovery through the weekly walking group.
Fouzi now finds less need to dwell on his injury. “If someone asks I will tell them about the accident – that it was not a car accident but something that happened at work - but not too much detail. We talk about other things - the factories we walk past, and the work people have done, or the dogs that some people bring along”
And so, after keeping up a steady pace along the streets and parks of Fairfield on a stunning autumn morning Fouzi and the group returned to the Fairfield Recreation Centre for the weekly distance guessing competition. “7km?” “7.5 km?” Charles retrieves his trusty pedometer and announces that a brisk 8.5 km was enjoyed by all.
For more information on the Fairfield Senior Walking Group call the Fairfield City Council’s Healthy Communities Initiative Coordinator on 02 9725 0398 or visit the Heart Foundation website
My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-three today and we still don't know where the hell she is.
~ Ellen DeGeneres