CARING FOR THE CARERS

Ronnie wanted to help those who help others

-  Ronnie Benbow

Watching a 10-year-old boy care for his sick mum, my heart broke into a million pieces.

She was a patient at Albury Base Hospital where, aged 17, I worked as a nurse. The little boy was by his mum's bedside morning to night, and back then there was no-one to check on his wellbeing.

I'd noticed carers were sometimes worn out and their health was suffering.

I wish I could support them, I thought, but I didn't know how.

Four years later I got married to Michael, then 23, and life got busier as our boys came along - Damien in 1987, Ryan in 1990 and Christian in 1992.

When I chatted about work, I'd often tell Michael about my concern for carers.

'You'll find a way to help them,' he said. 'You're a natural-born carer.'

In January 1997, we were on a family trip to Noosa. Michael took the boys into the water to teach them to body surf.

They all paddled out and, as I watched from the beach, a huge freak wave suddenly appeared.

After it hit, I desperately tried to locate them all, then I heard Damien's screams.

'Dad is hurt!' he said.

Rushing over, I saw Michael bobbing up and down in the water. Damien and I pulled him out.

Thankfully, the younger two were safe.

'I can't feel my legs,' Michael said.

I told him he was going to be all right, but I knew he had a spinal cord injury.

Paramedics took him to hospital, where doctors told me he had been paralysed from his neck down.

It was a life-changing injury, and I had to quit my job to take over running his retail stores selling watches, as well as manage the boys.