From being a highly regarded medical scientist working on Queensland’s Gold Coast to a patient in an aged care facility, Trina Stewart hasn’t had it easy.
The 46-year-old was cut down in her prime by an accident that left her with an acquired brain injury. As a result, Trina became paralysed on the left side of her body and required a wheelchair.
“I was in hospital when the stroke happened,” Ms Stewart said. “I was on fluids as I’d had a virus. I then had the stroke and it felt like a rug had been pulled out from under me.”
After four months in hospital, she found herself living a lonely existence in an aged care facility in Brisbane.
“Any sort of display of independence was severely frowned on,” Ms Stewart said.
“I went from being a scientist working on immunotherapy to fight breast cancer to a place where there was very little stimulus; it was miserable.”
Her path took a turn for the better when she “won the lottery”, receiving a Youngcare Home Soon grant which allowed her to move into Youngcare’s Wooloowin Share House in Brisbane with three other young people with high care needs.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air to come to a place where I’m encouraged to be independent,” she said.
