SITTING in his electric wheelchair in a Glendalough unit, Greg Willmott explains how he's waited a staggering six years in the public hospital system for surgery to fix excruciating pressure sores.
The ulcer-like legions are caused by constant pressure or friction. In Greg's case, it's a lack of mobility. He estimates he's spent a phenomenal 10 years in bed, most of them lying only on his right-hand side.
"I lost six years of my life," he said. "I wait constantly for the phone to ring in the hope that it might be the hospital able to get me in for an operation." It's now 16 years since Greg fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed his Holden HJ into a tree outside York.
Greg died a couple of times in transit to hospital. The breaks to his C6 and C7 vertebrae, near the base of his neck, meant the then-30-year-old would never walk again.
"I cried like I had never cried before," he said of being told the devastating news in Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital a month and a half later.
"I just couldn't believe it. I thought my life was over. I didn't even know anyone in a wheelchair," he said.
In the years since that life-changing accident, and with no insurance, a meagre pension and no expanded motor injury cover in WA, Greg has recuperated the hard way.
Given his predicament, Greg has nothing but praise for the Government's new Catastrophic Injuries Support scheme. The initiative will mean those left severely incapacitated in motor vehicle accidents such as Greg, receive lifetime care and support.
Often families and communities bear the brunt of looking after victims who miss out on care under the current Compulsory Third Party Insurance scheme.
"I reckon it's probably the greatest thing the Government has done since coming into power," Greg said. "Being injured like this is such a horrible thing to happen. You wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy. Now people are actually going to be looked after with care, and get the surgery they need. It will be like having private insurance, so you will get seen straight away, not have to wait around." A chance decision to drive when exhausted and tired has cost him a normal life. He acknowledges that, spurred on for the most part by fatherly love.
His son Jarrad is now 18, and while he's lived most of those years with his mother, two months ago he moved down to Perth from Geraldton to be with Dad. "I understand it must be really hard for him. That's why I moved down here, for some moral support," Jarrad said.
He also helps with daily tasks such as hanging out washing, walking the dog and making dinner. "It doesn't change the way I look at him," Jarrad said.
He is also supportive of the new CIS scheme. "People like Dad lose so much. It's hard to go through something like that," Jarrad said.Read Greg Willmott's full story from tomorrow at perthnow.com.au