Simmons family bond strengthened by two terrible accidents

Scott Simmons and his brother Luke were born five years and two months apart and grew up camping, building bonfires and working as pastry chefs in their parent’s bakery in Biloela.

But both their lives changed when they reached the age of 23. Eerily, five years and two months apart, the brothers both sustained spinal cord injuries – Scott after a motorbike accident in 1998 and Luke after falling into a pool at a party in 2003.

It was devastating for both men, their parents, Marian and Max, and brother Nathan.

But, day by day, they have reclaimed their lives.

On the eve of Spinal Injuries Awareness Week (7-13 November), the Simmons family wishes to highlight how, in a split second, your life can change forever due to a spinal cord injury.

After Scott’s accident, which left him with incomplete paraplegia, he eventually managed to walk again.

Now working as a supervisor of an earthmoving company, Scott said life had just returned to normal when Luke acquired his injury.

Scott had to call his parents, who were travelling around Australia at the time, and tell them their youngest son was paralysed.

Marian had just finished her morning walk. She remembers she had been watching pelicans play in the waters off South Australia.

“Scott said ‘Mum, this is the hardest call I’ve ever had to make. It’s Luke. He’s worse than me.’ I asked, ‘Is he alive?’ He said ‘Yes’. I said ‘Right that’s a big plus. Now we go forward from here’.”

Marian and Max moved to Brisbane and lived in a caravan park for 12 months while Luke recovered.

“When we got to hospital for the second time, the staff said ‘You’ll be right. You’ve been here before’,” Marian said

“So we put on a brave exterior and muddled through. It’s been horrific. But you keep looking forward.”

Scott struggled with the fact his brother’s injury – quadriplegia – was far worse than his own injury.

“I was helpless in hospital the first time. But I felt even more helpless the second time,” he said.

“It’s different when it’s not you, but a loved one. I would rather it was me than Luke. He’s my baby brother.”

Marian and Max spent $30,000 on equipment so Luke could live with them after leaving the Spinal Injuries Unit. Eventually they moved to Gladstone – where they didn’t know a soul – so Luke could be closer to support services such as hydrotherapy.

Luke then moved to Mackay to a centre called Paravilla, which assisted him to live independently. Now with his own unit, Luke requires some assistance from Personal Support Workers, but he still drives and enjoys fishing, swimming, cooking and spending time with his nieces and nephews. He is also a Peer Mentor with the Spinal Injuries Association, providing first-hand advice to people from the region when they return home from the Spinal Injuries Unit.

Marian describes her sons as strong and compassionate men who have worked hard towards their goals.

“It’s difficult to see that every day is a bit of a struggle for them,” she said.

“But the biggest thing is, we’ve still got our children. You take it one day at a time. You set goals and then go towards them.”

Spinal Injuries Association CEO Mark Henley said the Simmons family exemplified the determination and ‘keep moving forward’ attitude of many of the organisation’s members.

“There’s no question that having a spinal cord injury is both physically and emotionally traumatic,” Mark said.

“But, as shown by Luke and Scott and their parents, it doesn’t mean you have to give up. You can still achieve your goals and lead a fulfilling, enjoyable life.”

Each year around 90 Queenslanders sustain spinal cord injuries – a terrible average of one person every four days. The most common group to sustain these injuries are young men aged between 15 and 30, and the most common causes are due to road trauma (around 40%), falls and crushes (around 30%) and water-related accidents (around 20%).

Issued 25 October.