It’s been a slow couple of weeks in the world of personal support worker news. Outside of rehashes of past budgetary articles, there has been only two articles of note.

Article 1: Woman’s wheelchair damaged in hit-and-run incident

The first comes via CTV Atlantic and, if nothing else, is a human interest story.

56 year old Lorna Matthews recently lost her leg to gang green. She was out and about grocery shopping with her personal support worker in Black River Bridge, NB. While in the parking lot her wheelchair was hit by a car. The impact lodged Lorna’s wheelchair into the car; this forced the driver to maneuver about to break free. Once free, Lorna noticed that her chair was damaged; she also noticed that the car in question had driven away. A modern day hit and run, with wheelchair damage included. Ultimately, Lorna’s chair is in ruins and she now temporarily borrows a chair. She will need $800 to replace her current chair, and she does not have the funds available to do so.

An odd and sad story. Oddly enough, neither Lorna nor the personal support worker recorded the licence plate of the offending vehicle.

What is a PSW’s responsibility in this case? This certainly goes beyond a standard ‘scope of practice’, yet it is hard to imagine a PSW not getting involved in the situation.

Article 2: A Family Affair

A mother/daughter combo successfully completed the PSW course at John DiPoce South Georgian Bay Campus in Collingwood. It’s an interesting story due to the age difference of the mother (50′s) and the daughter

 

Update March 7th, 2013: The community in Black River Bridge has come to Lorna’s aid. Numerous emails and phone calls have come Lorna’s way, including the best news possible–the promise of a new wheelchair. If everything goes smoothly, Lorna could be in a new wheelchair any day now. Kudos to the community out in New Brunswick, rising up and lending a helping hand.