When I was 16, I had a push bike accident and I was hit by a four wheel drive. I was in grade 10, I was in a coma for 13 days and I was in hospital for 2 months.
I walked out of hospital two weeks before Christmas and got my Year 10 certificate, and went back to school in January 1994 for grade 11. I lasted until beginning of February when I decided school was not for me and mum had opened up a building society in Glasshouse. I went from school into a job working in a bank. I got to work with mum and learn how to open bank accounts for people and we had customers who owned their own business, so we had business accounts to open and people who opened their own personal accounts.
In 1997, I got a job as a waiter at the Caboolture Sports Club, where I would serve people food or set up tables for weddings or 21st birthday parties. I have also served people for private functions and I served Pauline Hanson when she was with One Nation Party and then I have worked in a coffee shop
What advice do you have for other people?
My advice for people with a disability is that you need to get out and give everyone your resume. Tell them that you are keen to work as many days as they need you to work, or if you are at school, you could work after school or weekends or on the days you have off from school. Show persistence and that you are eager to work hard for them.
What is good about having a job?
It is really good to have a job to be able to earn your own money and mix with other people. It gives you the opportunity to learn new job functions and procedures and give people who have a disability a chance to get into the work force. Working with interesting people, you can learn from and learn about what they do for a job. I love my job! I love that I can work one day a week and learn new job procedures and learn how Parent to Parent is run.