John Gibbs posted on April 20, 2011 22:46
Terry Delatorre, a member of the Rotary Club of Liverpool Greenway Rotarian came along to our club on 12 April as a guest speaker. Terry is a head injury victim and was released from a head injury ward in August 1990, classified as a Semi Vegetable, with no control of his limbs. 21 years later he is on a mission to provide awareness of head injuries which he says can happen from the simplest of accidents, but the chances of a head injury are infinitely greater if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident. He also emphasises, that you don’t have to be at fault, changed conditions such as diesel spilt on the road can be a catalyst for loss of control of a vehicle and that vehicle might be driven by another party that collides with you.
Terry was a member of the NSW Police Forces for 7 years, where he spent the last couple of years as a constable in the Police Investigation Squad at Goulburn. There he checked out accident scenes and came across some pretty gruesome fatality sights. Terry then used to seek relief by going for long rides at the end of his shift and days off on his Suzuki GXS1100 motorcycle.
It was on his day off on 8 June 1990, when Terry at age 27 was out enjoying his passion for riding his motorcycle that he has ended up in the air and landing head first. Terry is one of a very few that has a video of himself receiving treatment in the head Injury ward and then again footage 2 years later of when he first began to walk. Terry advised that head injury victims suffer a lack of circulation in the body causing contraction of muscles in limbs resulting in excruciating pain that would leave victims in the ward screaming for hours. Terry also says there is a 10 month period of his life around this time where he has lost complete memory of all events for the duration
The footage in the head injury ward clearly showed how one of his legs was much smaller than the other and a different colour due to lack of circulation. After release in August 1990 as a Semi Vegetable, his mother learnt about Reflexology and applied it to Terry, which Terry says is what brought the functioning back of his limbs 2 years later. Today Terry gets about on a cane and while he has his faculties about him, his speech has a slight impediment and his body reacts more slowly to his commands, with one leg still smaller than the other.
The Reflexology Association of Canada defines reflexology as: "A natural healing art based on the principle that there are reflexes in the feet, hands and ears and their referral areas within zone related areas, which correspond to every part, gland and organ of the body. Through application of pressure on these reflexes without the use of tools, crèmes or lotions, the feet being the primary area of application, reflexology relieves tension, improves circulation and helps promote the natural function of the related areas of the body." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexology). Interestingly this article also says: "The best evidence available to date does not demonstrate convincingly that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition." Terry then remains grateful for his mother’s determination.
Terry showed us pictures from his life before the accident and told us of how his passions in life were stripped away from him with continued incapacity to drive a vehicle or hold down a job. But he remains keen to develop his presentation and present on the importance of awareness and the plight of head injury sufferers. Enquiries may be directed through: afletching@hotmail.com attention T.D.