Russel

Russel Fawcett – SCI Australia Ambassador

When Russel Fawcett was injured in a motor cycle accident in 1978 all members of his family were devastated and rushed to his support. They even moved house to be closer to the hospital, with both parents changing jobs and his brothers and sister changing schools.  Memories of that love and dedication remain with Russel, as do feelings of guilt about the disruption caused to so many lives.

At the age of 17, living on the South Island of New Zealand, the future was looking good for Russel. He had been accepted into the air force as a trainee pilot and knew that after just 3 more months working in the local abattoir he would start the career of his dreams. Unfortunately several factors conspired against him, including long work hours, a determination to stay up late at night with friends and the unpredictable surface of the local main road.

“I can remember my dad always telling us that we couldn’t expect to work all day and stay up every night, but I was just looking forward to enjoying the rest of my life and didn’t listen”, Russel said.
“One morning I was travelling to work on my trail bike, not going fast and wearing all the usual safety gear, but I was dead tired and struggling to concentrate. I hit a patch of road gravel and the wheels just slid away, throwing me into the only metal guide post within miles. I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I remember was being treated by an ambulance crew and feeling intense pain in my back”.

Russel was told he had seriously damaged his spinal cord and would be a T8 paraplegic for life. His four month stay in hospital was made easier by the close proximity of his devoted family, now living in a caravan park close by. Determined to rebuild his life Russel accepted a job as an office worker in the abattoir and trained to become a senior supervisor but not everything went to plan.

“When I was 22 years old I came back to earth with a big crunch. My girlfriend and I were living together but after spending so much time helping and supporting me she couldn’t handle it anymore, and she just left. So, I decide to make a list of all my good points and bad points. I ended up with one column of positives, but unfortunately the negative column went over the page and kept on going. I knew I had to change”.
 
From that day onwards Russel started working on the negatives in his life, changing attitudes and behaviour until they were on the positive side of the page. Soon afterwards he moved to Australia and established his own company in project management.

“I see the ambassador role as great way to pass on what I have learnt about fully understanding yourself and how to relate to others. I believe I am now a much better person, but I would like to help others reach the same understanding without suffering the same painful experience”, Russel said.