Testimonial of Clément Badra

I regained my autonomy and quality of life

Fifteen years ago, when I was a teenager, an accident left me paralyzed and put me in a wheelchair. While I regained a degree of autonomy over the years, I wanted to achieve some very specific goals so, 10 years after the incident, I decided to embark on rehabilitation.

I wanted to be able to move out of my family’s home, and I needed tools and techniques that would enable me to carry out daily tasks on my own.

I turned to the Institut de réadaptation Gingras-Lindsay-de-Montréal (IRGLM), where the program took into account my busy work schedule. I became a resident there, but divided my time between work and rehabilitation. Their flexibility really helped me because my workday often ended late in the evening.

Openness, understanding, collaboration

With various specialists (physiotherapist, occupational therapist, …), I started exercises that would allow me to get into bed at night, to adapt my clothes so that I could get dressed and undressed, to reach what I need to prepare my catheter, and to prepare my meals.

The team at the IRGLM was very open and understanding. They clearly understood my needs and put together an intervention plan for me.

We worked collaboratively. I described to them in detail the irritants I’d felt trying to do certain things. So, in a way, I enriched their knowledge through my own experience.

Three months later, I’d reached all of my autonomy goals, with the exception of preparing meals. Rehabilitation wasn’t the culprit, it’s my work. I just don’t have time to cook. Nevertheless, I’m now living autonomously with two housemates, and I’ve successfully completed—hundreds of times—daily activities that used to be a problem.

Small victories become big ones

Supporting the IRGLM and the REA Foundation means supporting an expert and devoted team who pull out all the stops to help people at the beginning of their rehabilitation, or others, like me, who want to succeed in certain specific daily tasks.

Being able to do on a daily basis things that most people think of as banal brings me great peace of mind and a lot of satisfaction. I wanted to reduce my dependence as much as possible, and the IRGLM gave me the confidence and support I needed.

 

Clément Badra, 29 years old