![]() His father died in 1968 after living with aphasia and paralysis for around 15 years. "There was no-one he could talk to, there were no consultants, there was no research on the matter." "When I look back, the extent of that suffering just becomes greater and greater," Mr Bowness said. "He was trapped within the body and the body was trapped within the house." "His brain was still very active, but to convey that was a different matter - there was nothing available then," Mr Bowness said. Mr Bowness, who has lived with a stutter in his speech his whole life, said it was not until later in his own life and reflection on his own speech issues that he realised how difficult his father's last years were. "He was highly thought of, and then bingo - gone, zip, nothing - stuck in a chair all day." "He was the maintenance supervisor with what was the then-South Brisbane Gas and Light Company. ![]() "He lived a very full life before happened. "Back in those days, there was simply nothing available," Mr Bowness said. The QARC said aphasia affects 140,000 people in Australia. The University of Queensland officially opened the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC) today, which is the first aphasia centre in Australia that is partnered with a health service - Metro North Health in the state's south-east. It was this hindsight of his own father's experience that motivated Mr Bowness as the founder of his family's philanthropic foundation to financially back a new centre to treat the condition. ![]() At the time, Mr Bowness did not know it but his father had a condition known as aphasia, which commonly affects communication skills in individuals after a stroke or a head injury. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |