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Friends lend a hand

Posted on August 26, 2011

By BEN PISCIONERI

DESPITE all the bad that happens in the world, every so often something happens to renew your faith in humanity, even if it’s something small.

One of those events happened to Sunraysia resident Julie McKenna recently.
To say Julie has had a difficult few years would be an understatement.

She has spent much of her life caring for others as a nurse, but four years ago found herself on the receiving end of the healthcare system.

She sustained a minor burn and resulting blister on her foot, but thought nothing of it. Not long afterwards she began to feel ill, very ill.

Within 24 hours Julie had been flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with a severe case of septicaemia.

Doctors discovered a very rare form of bacteria had made its way into what appeared to be a very small, insignificant wound, quickly putting Julie’s body into septic shock.

Before her very eyes her extremities began dying off as her body’s major organs robbed her arms and legs of blood as they began to shut down.

The result was two weeks in intensive care and five-and-a-half months in Adelaide recovering.

Doctors were forced to amputate her lower left leg, part of her right foot and all her toes and fingers to save her.

Despite the massive setback, Julie fought back to resume her lifestyle, which included her love of gardening.

However, her three-quarters-of-an-acre property in South Mildura was proving too much to maintain given the obstacles in her path, as she explained.

“Before I became unwell I loved working in my back yard and gardens,” Julie said.

“I love gardening, looking after it and I had it immaculate, but having no fingers, it was a bit hard pulling out weeds.”

It was a challenge not lost on Julie’s friends who saw the need to help out.

“A couple of friends of mine got together and said, ‘let’s do a working bee’, so that’s what they did,” Julie said.

But to her surprise, it wasn’t just a couple of friends who came to help out. No fewer than 18 people arrived at her doorstop one recent Sunday morning, eager to help out, including two people she didn’t even know.

And they didn’t just limit themselves to the garden. The team cleaned Julie’s windows and gutters as well.

Julie said she was surprised and buoyed by the generosity of the group.

“It made a massive difference, a big morale boost for me,” she said.

“Just the spirit of these people, giving up their Sunday, which they could have been spending with their families or doing what they’d normally be doing. It was just fantastic.

“I felt extremely humbled, and of course extremely grateful.”

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