John cuts down his barriers on road to recovery

Mowing his lawns and making the garden shine was a big part of life for a Sunshine Coast Aspire4Life client who didn’t want to give up. 

Unable to tend to his gardens while watching them grow wild with hospital visits and periods of ill health impacting the ability to fire up the mower, John* was forced to rely on others.

“John had been experiencing dizziness, fatigue, and a lung condition which caused shortness of breath and a five day stay in hospital with a viral infection,” said Aspire4Life Regional Assessment Service’s (RAS) Niki, who recently assessed John to ensure he had what he needed to maintain his independence and happiness at home.

“John’s dizziness and fatigue was impacting his ability to mow the lawns and while a neighbour kindly mowed the front lawn whenever she did hers, the back lawns had not been attended to in some time.

“John had been seeking access to subsidised lawn maintenance through My Aged Care, but unfortunately there had been no lawn maintenance provider available on the Sunshine Coast, which left John searching for other options.”

Making strides in his health recovery, John jumped at the opportunity to borrow a self-propelled mower from his brother. With the strength to use it, it was with great happiness that John found the same style of mower on sale.

Performing a second assessment with John in as many weeks to ensure he was tracking well and had everything he needed, Niki said it was evident that John was on the right track in his recovery.

“He was reluctant to purchase the mower without a trial in case it proved unsuitable and a waste of money, but after trialling his brother’s, he was happy to report he went straight to Aldi to purchase one and couldn’t be happier,” Niki said.

“John is now happily and independently mowing his back lawn and reportedly his cardiologist prescribed a new medication that has also been very successful.

“He still gets shortness of breath, but nowhere close to what he was experiencing when he was assessed two weeks earlier.

“It’s great to be able to make sure John has what he needs to be happy and maintain his independence.”

Confirming his happiness, John said it was great to be back behind the mower while continuing his recovery at home
“I am happy to be back doing what I love and now I don’t have to rely on others,” he said.

*Names in this story have been changed for reasons of anonymity.