While walking across the front yard of a friend’s home, Samantha was hit by a speeding, drunk driver – taking the full force of an out of control vehicle on her left hand side with multiple factures and crush injuries to the left upper arm, shoulder, wrist and a fracture to the left hip.
The injuries were pinned and plated, resulting in pain, poor mobility and ruined ability to carry plates and perform table service. This was devastating for the owner/manager of a restaurant.
Samantha is in her early 40’s. A successful restaurateur, she has worked in some of the most famous restaurants in Sydney. Samantha explained when we first met that her career in hospitality and restaurant management had been her passion and she had given “everything she had” to her current restaurant venture.
When Purple Co met Samantha, she was even more uncertain about her future. The restaurant was unable to provide her wages while she did not work and the income protection payments were for a minimal amount of her pre-disability salary, and were for a 2 year fixed period only. Samantha wanted to focus on her injury recovery, however she was also feeling the pressure of significant financial strain.
Without her restaurant or hospitality career, Samantha was really uncertain of her fit in the world. After 12 months she identified that a significant lack of purpose was contributing to a growing experience of depression.
As a result of working with Purple Co:
Instead of seeking more treatment and more diagnoses, Samantha decided to take back control of her health and work life. Despite a fracture to the left hip that didn’t want to heal and the need for further surgery to the upper arm, Samantha chose to complete her Cert IV in Training and Assessment.
As a result, she has secured part-time teaching within TAFE. Samantha is by no means symptom free and continues to use a walking stick to assist with mobility. However she is now in control of her finances and is able to plan when to have surgery (in between semester breaks) so that she can maximise her earning capacity during this stage of her life.
Samantha has been an inspiring client to work with. Her determination to just get on with it has caused me to consider how many clients could benefit from a similar attitude. Samantha’s goal is to re establish her restaurateur career, but she knows she will need to improve both her finances and her function to enable this to occur.
Reconnected to purpose, Samantha is simply getting on with it.