Local tradie, Jamie Gluyas suffered terrible injuries in a workplace accident on September 28, and he and his family are still coming to terms with the repercussions and trying to navigate the next few months.
Jamie, who is an electrician, sustained serious injuries on a job near Kyogle, and was airlifted to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where he underwent immediate surgery.
Since then he has had another four surgeries, including a full facial reconstruction and jaw alignment and two operations to repair a crushed pelvis.
Ex-partner and close friend, Jessica Amaris, has been at his side since then – Jamie and Jessica co-parent their children, and though they live separately they are still a cohesive family unit.
Estelle is eight, Evan nine, and Mikayla is 17.
Jessica told The Echo it’s hard to update his status and projected recovery – it’s still early days. There are possibly nerve issues in one leg, and possible eyesight issues to attend to. These have been ‘small’ in comparison to the bigger issues so far.
‘He had two weeks of surgeries, and he is expected to be in hospital for at least another six to eight weeks, depending on his rehabilitation’, said Jessica.
‘He also suffered a brain injury, and has post-traumatic amnesia. He still has his personality, humour, wit and long-term memory, however, his short-term memory is not good at all, and he is confused at times. This could take weeks to many months to resolve, and he currently needs assistance for all daily tasks like eating, showering and so forth’.
On hand to help
Jessica says that she has been on hand to help. ‘I’ve been helping with his confused state, and speaking with all medical teams daily, as he can’t remember what hurts, why, or how he felt two hours ago. I haven’t left the Gold Coast. My kids stayed up here in a hotel the first weekend but since then my mum has had them in Mullumbimby, so I can be Jamie’s carer and medical advocate.’
Jamie is having further brain scans in the coming week to check the outlook on his post-traumatic amnesia and traumatic brain injury.
‘It’s so hard to find the balance between living day-by-day but also planning for the future with business finances and kids and caring for everyone.’
Jessica’s sister, Chava, has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds to offset the out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by insurance to pay rent and bills, and hopefully allow the children to continue their extra-curricular activities to help maintain their routine during this time.
‘It will be a challenging few months,’ said Jessica. ‘We just want to look after everyone and try to get Jamie back to as close to 100 per cent and as much independence as we possibly can.
To find out more and see updates on Jamie’s progress at here.
Well, that story hit me hard. Definitely donating. I compel the rest of you to do whatever you can for them.