I am sharing my sisters’ journey with the hope of helping her and her family in regards to her current situation. My sister does a lot in the community and helps anybody in need which is why I am advocating on her behalf. She is a custodian from the Windsor area and proud Unifor Local 2458 member. Unfortunately on July 29, 2018 she was severely injured due to an accident resulting in a life changing fall. This accident severely injured her left shoulder and she was rushed to the local hospital where x-rays revealed a fracture dislocation on her left shoulder and humeral head. The emergency room physician preformed several attempts at a closed reduction under general anesthesia which proved unsuccessful. She was then transferred to another local hospital under the direction of an orthopedic surgeon for an immediate assessment. In the emergency department however, she was assessed by the ER physician who performed another closed reduction under general anesthesia. The physician felt that it was reduced and she was sent home even though my sister pleaded to stay since she was still in excruciating pain and could feel a mass in her left arm pit. The ER physician dismissed her concern and told her to come back on July 31st for a follow up at the fracture clinic at yet another Hospital. When she returned for her follow up at the fracture clinic on July 31st, a CT scan confirmed that her shoulder had in fact been dislocated since her release of the ER visit on the 29th. She was then immediately taken to the operating room where they performed surgery to put her shoulder back in the correct place. This, as you can imagine was very invasive and extremely painful. Over the last 4 years my sister has undergone 4 more surgeries, the last one being July 26th 2022 at London Hospital in which her titanium plate was removed because her body was rejecting it. Currently, she remains in continuous ongoing pain, has weakness and significant loss of motion in her left shoulder and arm despite it being 4 years from her first surgical procedure. She is required to regularly go to and from London which is 2 hours away from her home for specialist appointments and with her ongoing chronic pain and physical limitations it has had a substantial negative impact on all aspects of her life, including work, housekeeping, hobbies and self-care. She attends physiotherapy twice a week and has frequent visits to get treatments through acupuncture, Deep Tissue massage, corticosteroid injections, along with shots at the pain clinic to help ease the pain. Her range of motion still has yet to improve. Over the years she has seen a lot of medical professionals seeking help to get rid of the chronic pain just so she could return to work. She had planned to return to work in September until she was notified that her titanium plate was being rejected and would require another surgery.

In conclusion, my sister has had little to no money coming in and has used up all her sick benefits from work along with sick benefit from the government. Unfortunately, the bills don’t stop and the daily fuel/parking costs for her appointments continue to add to this financial burden. Her partner Joe works as much as he can to provide for his family and they just can’t get ahead. If you are in a position where you can help, any amount, big or small, would help to provide Liberty & Joe with the means to continue her treatment along with caring for her 11 year old daughter Henley.

Thanks in advance

D.J.