Builder back to living life

MIND OVER MATTER: David Pepperell was in a workplace accident in 2008, which left him with a brain injury.

Claudia Baxter

IT has been a long hard road back to recovery for David Pepperell, after a severe head injury left him in a coma and wiped out two years of his life.

While working on a building site in November 2008, the house builder and former Bundamba resident lost his balance, falling three metres to the ground, on to concrete.

During the fall he sustained a head injury, which required a titanium plate to be implanted.

He also broke his back, shoulder blade, wrist and fractured a bone in his neck.

“I was unconscious for three weeks and spent a total of eight months in hospital,” Mr Pepperell said.

The fall has also meant he has no memory of the year before the accident or anything up until January this year.

“Altogether I lost close to two years of my life, including memories of the time leading up to and including the accident,” Mr Pepperell said.

“I even forgot that I’d bought a really nice Falcon ute.”

His remarkable story comes amid Brain Injury Awareness Week, which this year focuses on the prevention of falls.

By his side throughout the saga is wife of 27 years Vicki.

Mr Pepperell said it was hard to appreciate the toll the accident had taken on his wife.

“I don’t fully appreciate what she has been through,” he said.

“I don’t recall the accident.

“Vicki is the one who has had to handle everything.”

He said his loss of memory had also meant he had no recollection of precious family time spent with his 23 and 21-year-old daughters over the past few years.

“I missed birthdays and Christmases and just everyday life,” Mr Pepperell said.

“Apparently I was there, but my mind wasn’t.

“I was pretty gaga.”

Following the accident, he said his wife had found out about Open Minds, a not-for-profit organisation which supports men and women with acquired brain injury, mental illness or intellectual disability to live independently and maintain their wellbeing within the community.

Mr Pepperell commenced his rehabilitation with Open Minds in July 2009, and was assigned a team of support workers who worked with the couple to develop an individual rehabilitation plan identifying personal goals within an intensive rehabilitation program.

The key goals were for him to re-establish confidence and skills to carry out daily activities such as responding to a phone ringing, getting out of bed, maintaining personal care, cooking safely, locating a local gym and developing memory prompting tools.

The support team also assisted him to participate in activities such as practicing music and jam sessions with his band, volunteering at the local TAFE and developing a social network.

Now blind in his left eye and with only 69 per cent vision in the other, he is no longer able to drive or return to the building site.

He said his hope was to combine his love of playing the guitar with work and get a job in a guitar shop.

Despite the obstacles he has been through getting his life back, he remains optimistic.

“I guess I have always been a positive type of person,” Mr Pepperell said.

“The future for me is looking okay.”

Open Minds CEO Bernard Wilson, said David’s case was a wonderful success story.