Disabled Man Facing Homelessness After Accident

Over 10 months ago on the 11th of September 2019, student, Rowan Blackburn studying Carpentry Lv. 3 was struck by a car on State Highway One in Tokoroa while crossing the road from Te Ohomai Institute Of Technology to the Tokoroa Town Center. As a result of this accident, Rowan's left ankle was completely shattered with some bones non-existent anymore. Rowan was rushed into ECU at Rotorua Hospital. The next day he had his first surgery where they put on all the external bracing he needed until the severe swelling subsided which took 8 days time. On Friday the 20th of September 2019 Rowan was taken into theater for his second surgery where the surgeons tried to repair as much of the damage as they could including the fitment of a large L-shaped metal plate and pins. Rowan was discharged from Rotorua Othopedics on Sunday 22 September 2019 to be sent home on a minimum of 6-8 weeks with no load bearing on his ankle. After two weeks he went in for his first check up where they removed the after surgery cast, his surgical stitches and applied at fiberglass cast. After a further 4 weeks of more or less complete bed rest, Rowan went in for another checkup where they removed his fiberglass cast and gave him a moonboot so his leg breath a little. After a few months of constant checkups and x-rays every few weeks, the specialist decided that his ankle was not healing in a way he was happy with, so Rowan was booked in for a MRI scan, the results determined that he would require a bone graft to help repair his ankle. The surgery for the bone graft was set for late March 2020 however with the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown period, the hospital postponed his surgery until the 12 of June 2020. This third time was an abrasive surgery where they went in through the side of his stomach to remove some bone from his left hip which was grafted into his ankle along with adding some more metal plates and pins for futher support. Rowan was kept in hospital for observations and was discharged on Sunday the 14th of June 2020, this surgery more or less restarted Rowan's healing and rehabilitation back to day 0 where he was told once again a minimum of 6-8 weeks with no load bearing on his ankle. Two weeks after being discharged on the 23rd of June 2020 he went in for another checkup where they removed the after surgery cast pulled the stitches from his ankle and put another fiberglass cast on; they also checked up on the surgery wound on his stomach. That brings everything more or less up to date on the hospital side of things. Rowan's next check up will be on Tuesday the 28th of July 2020 where I will be able to provide more information on his healing progress, however the length of time required for his bones to fully heal is unknown and even after things are going well he will still be looking at probably months in a moonboot slowly applying weight when the doctor gives the ok and countless months of physio therapy. All going well, Rowan is still looking at probably 6 maybe even 12 months before he can walk in a basic fashion unassisted. Rowan have been forewarned by doctors that due to the nature and severity of his injury they cannot give him a timeline of how long things will take or how well things will be in the future. Rowan has been told that he will experience arthritic pains in winter and even if he heals well, still need further surgeries in the future. For a overview from Rowan please watch this recording from October last year...

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=595570321209586

Rowan is currently living on his brother's property in a small cabin; his parents also live on the same property.

No-one living there is willing to help him to do the basic things, Rowan is often left to fend for himself with very little day to day support; he feels he is just left to rot out in the cabin with no-one thinking of him. Rowan struggles with his family, he is often the victim of a lot of verbal and emotional abuse by the ones that are meant to be caring for him and this has caused his mental health to constantly degrade on a daily basis. Rowan has been told by numerous outsiders including his ACC home help carer and his occupational therapist that the environment he live is is toxic and abusive.

It has caused tension to the point where his brother has given his two weeks to leave. I can't understand why they treat him in such a way. Rowan says the family does not often include him in family meals and he has to fight a uphill battle to get the basics of day to day life, he does not get any help with showering, washing his clothes or anything else he needs help with until he basically begs them to help him.

The biggest part of the problem is that the main house is a massive constant health and safety risk where he constantly fights to get around many tripping hazards which could easily cause him to fall and re-injure himself, Rowan has a knee scooter but there is simply not enough room for him to maneuver around the mess and chaos of the house.

Rowan's brother sees him as a burden and since he pulls the strings and has often made suggestive comments towards his life being better and easier if Rowan wasn't there which in my view is a disgusting thing to say to your own family member, especially someone who is in such dire need of help and support and must be very hurtful towards Rowan's mental and emotional state.

He is forcing Rowan out. Rowan needs to desperately get out of this toxic and abusive situation and find accommodation for himself; a one bedroom house would be ideal. He has no money due to his condition, he lives on a benefit week to week until he has healed properly and recovered enough to return to seeking a job, due to the ever-growing housing issue and cost of living these days, Rowan is in need of help to get himself back on his feet and the fact that his family is unwilling to provide support Rowan feels he is on his own,. He is going to have to use taxi's to get into town to try and look for a house to rent, due to his psychical limitations he will be unable to pack up his stuff, lift or carry anything during the moving process and will probably have to get in professional movers. Rowan is currently in dire straits and does not know what to do because he has no money to get things done, I am doing my very best to offer him support in the way of friendship from a distance but ask those that are able to offer there support in Rowan's time of need.